


Oh What a Beautiful Bird I Am

by peachpandabear



Category: Xiaolin Showdown (Cartoon)
Genre: Birds, Cryptic Gingers, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Gen, I'm serious you guys, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Slow Burn, very slow burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-18
Updated: 2018-05-15
Packaged: 2018-06-03 02:37:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 58,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6593320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peachpandabear/pseuds/peachpandabear
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Xiaolin Monks become suspicious when their, admittedly weak, rival Jack Spicer is missing from the last few showdowns. When they investigate his house to see what he is up to they come come upon a secret that Jack didn't want any of them to know about. It seems Jack Spicer evil boy genius may not be as alone as we were all lead to believe.</p><p>(Moving this over from Fanfiction.net)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Just to let everyone know I'm completely ignoring Xiaolin Chronicles

 

(November 12, 1997. Age: 5 Years old)

 

A young boy sits under the shade of a tree in the school playground; all the other children run around and play with each other while the boy sits alone. The other children always ignore him, except for some of the older boys who tease and ridicule him for his strange looks. With impossibly white skin and hair and brilliant blood red eyes the young boy cuts a striking difference from his peers. His appearance alone isn’t all that separates him from the other children, the boy is extraordinarily intelligent, a genius his teachers have said. But because of his differences the other children avoid him and he is always alone.

 

“Hello,” a soft voice pipes up from in front of the boy.

 

It’s the new girl from England, with a warm smile that lights up her silver eyes, warm copper skin and a cloud of red hair she’s the strangest and prettiest girl he’s ever seen, but why is she talking to him? Haven’t the others told her he’s a freak? Can’t she see that herself? But that doesn’t seem to matter to her as she sits down next to him under the tree.

 

“Can I sit here with you?” she asks quietly. He finds himself nodding his head and her smile widens, dimples form on each of her cheeks and the boy is transfixed. None of the other children have ever smiled this long or this nicely at him before.

 

“My name’s Juliet Celandine, what’s yours?”

 

“Jack, Jack Spicer.” he finds himself murmuring through his shock.

 

“Well Jack, do you want to be my friend?”

 

“Why?” Jack is surprised and suspicious; no one ever wants to be his friend. Juliet just shrugs.

 

“Mrs. Rene-- I mean Auntie said to make friends, and you look lonely. Plus, I think your eyes are pretty, they’re like Rubies!” Jack blinks up at her in shock; she likes his weird eyes? Everyone else thinks they’re creepy. He smiles, just a little, at her.

 

“Okay,” she beams at him as the teacher calls them back inside to continue class. She grabs his hand after they stand and begin walking back inside.

 

“Jack, I think we’re going to be the best of friends!” Juliet says confidently, Jack finds himself agreeing with her instantly as warmth spreads through him from where their hands interlock.

 

“Yeah I think so too.”

 

(March 9, 2000. Age: 7 years old)

 

“Jack, you could do amazing things, you could hold the world in your hand if you just tried.” Jack's second grade teacher had urged him after class that day, causing Jack to be strangely contemplative as he rode home with Juliet.

 

“I could have the whole world Jewels! All of it!” he later exclaimed to Juliet when they arrived at her house and were seated comfortably in her room.

 

“Jack, you could do just about anything once you set your mind to it.” Juliet replies in a distracted tone as she effortlessly finishes her homework.

 

“But Jewels think about it! If I ruled the world, no! If WE ruled the world, what we could do!” Jack exclaims excitedly.

 

“We? Jack I don’t want to rule the world, it sounds like too much work.” Juliet says simply while putting away her homework.

 

“Oh, come on! It's not like you to be so lazy Jewels!” he teases “How about this then; I’ll be the Evil Boy Genius and you’ll be my mediator or advisor or something!” Juliet considers this for a moment while pulling out her sketchbook.

 

“Hm… works for me, besides ‘Jack Spicer: Evil Boy Genius’ has a nice ring to it don’t you think?” she grins at him. Jack returns her grin and pounces on her in a hug.

 

“I knew you’d see it my way!” Juliet laughs turns the hug into a playful tussle

“Yeah yeah sure Spicer.”

 

(June 12, 2000. Age: 7 years old)

 

“Jack what did you do.” Juliet sighs as said boy runs into her room with his head down and covered.

 

“Nothing!” Jack replies quickly trying to hide under the heavy black jacket Juliet’s Aunt had given him for Christmas that year.

 

“Hiding from me is not nothing!” She huffs “What in the world did you do to your hair?!” Juliet tugs the jacket from where it is covering Jack’s hair, which seems to have changed from snow white to a lovely shade of neon orange.

 

“It wasn’t supposed to turn out this way!” Jack exclaims frantically as Juliet’s features turn from concern to childish glee.

 

“But why is it like that?”

 

“Well I uh, I mean. No reason there’s no reason at all!”

 

“Jack...” Juliet cocks an eyebrow and looks expectant as Jack deflates under her stare.

 

“I wanted to make it look like yours so maybe people wouldn’t look at me like I’m such a freak.” Juliet’s expression softens and she gently hugs the smaller boy.

 

“Oh my Ruby, you are just fine the way you are no matter what those idiots say.” Jack nods sullenly and Juliet pulls away “But if you really want to change your hair I bet James can help you out with it.”

 

“You’re the best Jewels!”

 

“I know, come on let’s see if we can find him” she says as she takes Jack’s hand and exits the room.

 

(December 24, 2000 Age: 8 years old)

 

“Jewels look what grandmother sent me!” Jack says excitedly as he bounds into the den of her house.

 

“Just come right in then Jackie,” Juliet’s older cousin James mutters as he ruffles Jacks now bright red hair while walking into the den just after Jack. Jack pouts at the older boy and fixes his hair as Juliet looks up from her sketchbook.

 

“What did she send you Jack?” Jack shows her his Heli-bot while bouncing on his toes in excitement.

 

“She says it’s for if I ever get into a pinch and need to get away quickly, what with my newly evil lifestyle.” Juliet stands from the couch and peers at the Heli-bot before grinning.

 

“Well then let’s get to teaching you to fly then, huh?”

 

“You are the best!”

 

“I know, now let’s go.” she says before grabbing Jack's hand and dragging him outside.

 

“Try not to injure yourselves!” James calls from his place on the couch.

 

(July 19, 2002. Age: 9 years old)

 

“Jack, that’s just how it’s going to be.” his father says sternly before leaving the recently emptied bedroom that had belonged to his shocked son. Jack's father had only just told him of their impending move to China, as the movers carried that last pieces of furniture from their home. Jack had been at Juliet’s Aunt's house before returning home to find it empty. China was so far from here, it wasn’t the place itself he would miss but rather the person that would no doubt stay here. Jack's thoughts spiraled downwards at the thought of losing Juliet and he couldn’t stop his tears from falling down his face as his sobs sound loudly throughout the newly empty house. 

 

“Jack?” he hears the familiar soothing voice and hiccups loudly as he tries to stop his crying. A small warm hand grab his own and pull him down to the floor, where his head is pillowed into a soft shoulder. “Oh my Ruby, your Father told me everything.” Juliet sighed as she rocked them back and forth while continuing “You left your Robot blueprints at my house so I came over to give them back and I saw the moving truck. Oh, Jack I’m so sorry.” she soothes, hugging him close and running a hand through his red hair.

 

“How are you so calm Jewels?” Jack asks miserably, wrapping his arms around her waist and absently fiddling with a curl of her long red hair to distract himself.

 

“Oh, I’m not, trust me on that. But one of us needs to be calm right now or else this’ll just be worse.” Juliet says simply in a detached way. Jack risked a glance up a her and found her normally warm silver eyes dull and emotionless. Jack gulps as slight uneasiness forms in his gut, this isn’t like his friend, that dull look doesn’t belong in her eyes and he doesn’t know how to fix it.

 

“Jewels?” Jack hiccups worriedly, and just as suddenly as it had appeared that look was gone. Juliet smiles sadly down at Jack as the warmth returns to her eyes.

 

“Come on Jack, no more tears, this isn’t the last time you’ll see me. I’m sure I can visit every now and then and we could always call.” She soothes while wiping the tears from his face with her sleeve.

 

“Yeah, you’re right, I’m gonna miss you though,” Jack nods and sits up, strangely at peace all the sudden.

 

“I’ll miss you too Jack, don’t worry one day we’ll be together again,” Juliet promises as she helps Jack up from the floor “Now come on, maybe we can have one last sleepover at my house before you leave tomorrow!” Juliet says excitedly, Jack held tightly to her hand as they exited his house for the last time.

 

(December 11, 2003. Age: 11 years old)

 

“I can’t believe mother made us sign up for these!” Jack complains as he slips on the ice again and topples into Juliet, making them both fall in a heap of awkward pre-teen limbs on the ice.

 

“Come on Jack! Chin up! You never know you might need this someday!” Juliet laughs as they shakily stand up again.

 

“What Evil Boy Genius needs to know how to figure skate?!” Jack whines and flails his arms to try and keep balance, Juliet laughs giddily before Jack’s elbow rams into her shoulder and the fall once again with matching high pitched shrieks.

 

(October 20, 2004. Age: 12 years old)

 

“Jewels you’re never gonna believe it!” Jack exclaims in to the phone the second he hears the soft hello from the other end.

 

“ _How many phone calls have started in this exact same way Jack? And how often have I been surprised?_ ”

 

“Well almost none, but this is something even you don’t know!”

 

“ _Jack I know everything_ ”

 

“Not everything--”

 

“ _Everything_ ”

 

“Well anyway, so I may or may not have found my way to ruling the world”

 

“ _Oh? Do tell,_ ” Jewels says sounding interested.

 

“Ok so there’s these things called the Shen Gong Wu,” Jack goes on to explain about the amazing day he just had.

 

(February 18, 2005. Age: 12 years old)

 

“So, you know my evil idol?” Jack starts only to hear Juliet snort over the phone.

 

“ _Which one_?”

 

“No need to be snippy”

 

“ _There is always a need to be snippy Jack._ ” Jack rolls his eyes; he can practically hear the smirk on her face.

 

“Anyway, so I met Chase Young!” he exclaims

 

“ _Isn’t he supposed to be a myth_?”

 

“Well he’s not! He’s very real and very cool and a little violent, but whatever he’s evil, right?”

 

“ _Wait what? Violent? Jack, did he hurt you?_ ” Juliet's voice drips with sudden disdain.

 

“Not badly, but anyway so Chase Young….” He goes on to tell Juliet everything he knows about Chase young. To which she begrudgingly listens to.

 

(August 2, 2005. Age: 12 years old)

 

“Ok so maybe I did need the figure skating lessons”.

 

Juliet laughs herself silly.

 

(October 18, 2007. Age: 15 Years old)

 

In a grand ballroom in an even grander mansion stands Jack, exceedingly better dressed than normal and alone. He sighs into the flute of champagne he swiped from a serving tray when no one was looking before taking a long sip.

 

“You know I’m pretty sure that stuff is bad for a boy your age” a soothing voice pipes up from beside him. Jack's head whips over and he grins at the sight of Juliet, dressed in a black princess ball gown and grinning giddily with a small lopsided wrapped present in her hands.

 

“Jewels! You made it!” Jack exclaims before pulling her into a hug, Juliet laughs joyfully before returning the hug as best she can and grabbing the glass from Jack's hand. Jack pouts at her as she moves to stand beside him and takes a sip out of the glass. “Hey that’s mine!”

 

“Don’t whine Jack, I’m saving you from yourself!” Julie teases before finishing off the champagne and placing the empty flute on a passing waiter's tray.

 

“Didn’t you just say it's bad for someone my age?” Jack huffs but can’t hide his grin as Juliet rolls her eyes.

 

“Ah yes but I’m far older than you remember?” She teases back before dodging Jacks responding playful shove and pins his arms against the wall with her back.

 

“Oh by like three months!” Jack laughs as his shove is dodged easily “Ugh, see even you can beat me easily!” Jack whines again as Juliet releases his arms.

 

“How’s all that magical what’s-it been going anyway?” Juliet questions as she smoothes her large skirt down.

 

“Not good really” Jack frowns and looks away “I haven’t won a showdown in months, it’s pretty pathetic honestly.” he says glumly. Juliet bumps shoulders with him lightly to get his attention before smiling gently.

 

“Don’t be so hard on yourself, look you’re only fifteen and you’re up against what? A thousands of years old lizard man and a creepy and equally as old witch? And those are just some of your other Heylin competitors! Don’t be so down on yourself” She encourages, Jack smiles weakly.

 

“Thanks Jewels.”

 

“Anytime Ruby, now let's go see if we can sneak into the gardens. A boy only turns fifteen once and he shouldn’t have to spend it at some snooty family party.” Juliet says before taking Jack's hand and weaving their way through party guests and towards the back garden.

 

(April 4, 2009. Age: 16 years old)

 

“Oh, it’s so nice to hear from you darling!” Jack's mother gushes over the phone and Jack peaks his head out of his lab to see if is safe to try and grab some pudding from the kitchen without running into one of his parents. Jack's parents had returned to the house briefly on one of their rare breaks from whatever lavish vacation or fancy work trip they were taking. Their presence was often something for Jack to be wary of since neither party was very familiar with one another, it mostly begins with awkward family dinners and slowly deviates to Jack hiding away in his lab until they leave.

 

“Oh, look there he is now! I’ll just leave you to it then!” His mother chirps when she spots Jack, waving him over to take their wireless home phone and winking at him for some reason as she hands it over.

 

“Uh hello?” Jack says warily as he retreats to his lab with the phone.

 

“ _I think your Mother thinks we’re in love,_ ” Jack sighs, relaxing at the familiar voice.

 

“Oh good it's you Jewels, she winked at me when she handed me the phone and I thought it was something bad.”

 

“ _Exactly what have you been up to that you think your mother winking at you over a phone call is bad news?_ ” Juliet laughs at the offended squawk Jack lets out in response.

 

“Nothing honestly! It’s just, you know how it gets when they’re around. High tension everywhere” He sighs tiredly as he leans against one of his work tables. “Why didn’t you call my cell anyway? You never use the home phone.”

 

“ _Well I did but you didn’t pick up, I figured I’d try the home one to see if you left it in your lab or something. But then your mother picked up and I think she wants us to get married._ ” Juliet says plainly with amusement lacing her voice.

 

“Of course she does, sorry for not picking up my music was on,” Jack groans while rubbing his temple to stave off a headache.

 

“ _Oh it's fine, so your music was on? You only do that when you’re deep in working, tell me about your robots._ ” Juliet says, knowing It’ll cheer Jack up. Sure enough it works and Jack is back to animatedly explaining the new design for his Jackbots a few minutes later.

 

(December 25, 2011. Age: 19 years old)

 

“You know I might actually be good at this if you were here” Jack sulks to the phone while his parents have another Christmas party upstairs.

 

“ _Oh Jack,_ ” Juliet says sadly. Jack laughs humorlessly.

 

“I know I know, I’m fine just the way I am, but I can’t be just fine for this to work anymore. I need my Jewel here to help you know?” the line is quiet for a while until Juliet’s soft voice pipes up once more.

 

“ _I’ll talk to my Aunt; I might be able to get back soon once James graduates college._ ”

 

“Thanks Jewels.”

 

“ _Anything for you Ruby, just give me some time and I can be at your side again._ ”

 

(May 2, 2012. Age: 19 years old)

 

“Happy Birthday Jewels!” Jack yells into his phone with a wicked grin.

 

“ _Jack, it is two in the fucking morning here. What the hell._ ” Juliet groans tiredly as she rubs her eyes.

 

“I wanted to be the first to wish you a happy twentieth birthday!” He grins.

 

“ _You just wanted to get back at me for when I did this to you last year didn’t you?_ ”

 

“Yep! Now rise and shine gorgeous it’s time to face the day as someone one step closer to being as old as you act!” Jack says theatrically, revenge is sweet.

 

“ _Excuse you, what do you mean by that?_ ” Juliet huffs but she’s already sounding more awake.

 

“Look all I’m saying is you’ve acted like you’re five thousand years old since we were five and now you’re one step closer to achieving your goal of being old as hell!” Jack laughs as Julie gasps in mock offence.

 

“ _You call me at my house and sass all over my way of living. Jack Spicer how dare you._ ” Juliet chastises in a high and snooty parody of her usual voice.

 

“You love me, I’m the best friend you’ve ever had!” Jack sing-songs and grins when Juliet laughs.

 

“ _True, but you’re still a dweeb,_ ” Juliet teases back before sighing “ _But I suppose I should tell you my secret now_ ”

 

“Wait what secret!? Tell Jackie the secret!” Jack demands curiously.

 

“ _Well Jack dear I’ve been hiding something from you, I’m actually an immortal like that lizard guy you’re in love with, I’m a phoenix who for thousands of years has been dying and being re born to follow the soul I promised to protect at its very first reincarnation._ ” Juliet says completely serious.

 

The phone line goes silent.

 

 Jack is frozen on the other side, mouth half open in another friendly retort as he tries to figure out if his friend is being serious, finally he laughs uneasily.

 

“Ha, you had me there for a second Jewels!”

 

“ _That’ll teach you not to call me at two in the morning._ ” Jack hears the smirk in her voice and relaxes at the realization that it was just a joke.

 

“Yeah yeah, whatever Birdy.” he huffs as he slumps into the ratty couch in his lab.

 

“ _Anything for you Ruby,_ ” Juliet croons, voice sugary sweet, “ _Now since you’ve already woken me up, what are you doing today?_ ” Jack launches into an explanation over his newest plan to get more Wu and the strange joke is quickly forgotten.

 

(October 9, 2013. Age: 20 years old)

 

“ _So, I might have met someone_ ” Juliet confesses to Jack over the phone as he tinkers with making his Jackbots a bit sturdier for battle.

 

“You what! Who is he! Or she whichever, not judging you”

 

“ _Her name's Jasmine, she’s older than us but she’s so interesting Jack,_ ” Juliet lets out a sigh of contentment, “We talked for hours, besides you I don’t think there’s ever been anyone to keep my attention so fully for that long.” She admits.

 

“That’s great to hear Jewels; I’ll have to meet her sometime.”

 

“ _Well of course! I need my best friend’s opinion!_ ” Jack laughs.

 

“Yeah yeah, so tell me about her,” Juliet then proceeds to explain everything she knows about Jasmine to Jack, her tone showing how absolutely delighted she is.

 

(January 5, 2014. Age: 21 years old)

 

“ _So we’re dating now,_ ” Jack chokes on the water he just took a sip of as the answers his phone to talk to Juliet.

 

“Wait what now? I thought you were dating Jasmine?”

 

“ _I am but there’s no way my Aunt will make us be in a ‘long distance relationship’ for long. I just have to convince Jasmine to come with and then I’ll be with you!_ ”

 

“Well alright, if you’re sure…” Jack trails off thinking about his long time crush on someone who will not be mentioned.

 

“ _I knew you would agree! We’ll be Jack Spicer: Evil Boy Genius and Juliet: The Amazing again soon!_ ”

 

“Whoa now, why do you get to be ‘The Amazing’!”

 

“ _Am I wrong?_ ”

 

Jack heaves a sigh, “No…”

 

(September 15, 2015. Age: 22 years old)

 

Jack checks his voicemail after another humiliating defeat at another Xiaolin Showdown; he has one missed call from Juliet.

 

“ _Hey Jack, I’m moving back close to stay at a family villa nearby… I- I don’t have anything keeping me here anymore, J- Jasmine ended it. It’s bad Ruby. Anyway, by the time you get this I’ll probably be on a plane, s- so see you soon Jack. Bye_ ” from the sound of the message Juliet had been or still was crying, it worried Jack since Juliet never cried, not even when they were separated. He was caught between anger at whatever Jasmine and her ‘Better than everyone’ attitude had done to Juliet and excitement to finally see his friend again after all this time apart.

 

“I guess I’ll see her soon and judge it from there” Jack mumbles to himself as he goes to fix his Jackbots and wait for Juliet to call.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That’s the end of the prologue! Hope you all enjoyed it, I tried my best with the dates and totally made up a birthday for Jack to try and guess the right ages. I’m in serious need of a Beta to read over these and help me with characterization, I think I’ve got everyone down since I’ve just re watched the series but the main reason this always gets abandoned and later re done is because I’m constantly second guessing myself and am afraid of posting anything without someone checking everything over. If any of you would like to help me that’d be really great!
> 
> Cover art by the wonderful [sabertoothwalrus](http://sabertoothwalrus.tumblr.com/) (I commissioned this to make me write more, and it seems to be working, plus its absolutely gorgeous!)


	2. Reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First I would like to apologize for taking forever to update! My only excuse is that I got super distracted, and it just kinda got worse from there. A thank you to my wonderful friends for reading this over for me, I would have waited way longer to post this without their help! Anyway I hope you all Like the first official chapter!

When Juliet shows up at Jack’s door they don’t talk about it. Jack can’t bring himself to say anything when Juliet smiles at him; it’s just a little forced and perfect with dull eyes, like some sort of doll. They don’t speak as she clings to him, for dear life, in a hug. The only other outward sign of a problem a shaky sigh and the warmth of Juliet’s tears against his neck. When she pulls back all evidence of her lapse is gone and her mask of calm is back in place.

 

“Welcome back, Jewels.”

 

“Good to be back, Ruby.”

 

* * *

 

 

The first day is spent catching up, Jack steering clear of anything that could remind Juliet of her break up. That evening, when Juliet tries to leave, the door is blocked by Jackbots. They gently guide her upstairs to a guest room decorated in soft creams and whites, her luggage already unpacked and put away neatly in the open closet filled with clothes. The majority of the Jackbots leave with a wave of Jack’s hand, one stays hovering near the door.

 

“Okay, so I reprogrammed this one for you. He’ll obey you fully, unless the others go into emergency mode, then he’ll stick by your side to protect you, unless it’s a major problem that needs all Bots attention. Basically, he’s programed to help you in any way you need and protect you if there’s ever an emergency.” Jack explains quickly as Juliet looks the Bot over.

 

Juliet smiles up at the Bot, “Do I have to call it a ‘Jackbot’? I mean, you have to admit it’s a little bit silly,” she teases as she pulls the Bot closer and turns it around, “Well you removed the big off switch at least.”

 

“Hey that was one time ten years ago! I guess you can name yours if you want, how you’re gonna tell them all apart when they’re in a group I have no clue though.” Jack shrugs, leaning against the doorway to watch the two get acquainted.

 

“Yeah yeah, hey, can we order some paints, specifically for metal?” She asks as the Bot turns back around, Juliet takes it by the hand and tugs it over to the glass doors of the balcony and into the sunlight “Hm… maybe blue.”

 

“Uh sure, but the art room is still stocked. Can’t you just use the ones in there? What do you need them for?” Jack asks, watching as the Jackbot scans Juliet before reaching up to fix a curl of ginger hair that had fallen from her intricate braided bun. Juliet grins up at the Bot, silver eyes warm and fond for the first time since she had arrived at the house. She turns that look toward Jack, grin widening before speaking.

 

“I’m going to paint him, I’m thinking wings!” She exclaims before darting out of the room with Jack and the Bot hot on her heels.

 

The paints are ordered and delivered the next day.

 

* * *

 

 

The second day is spent in Jack’s lab; Jack working on his robots and Juliet crammed into a corner surrounded by paints and a lone Jackbot that she’d dubbed Manna. They work quietly together in the same room, ignoring each other completely for most of the day as Juliet outlines the Bot in silver and gray, keeping with the original design besides the color change. By the end of the day the lab reeks of oil and paint fumes.

 

The week continues similarly to the first day, as the day’s pass Juliet adds more to her new Bot. starting in the center of the Bots back spread massive wings; bright and shining in blues and whites, intricately detailed from the coverts and down to the primaries that wrap around the front of the bot to frame the center circular mask overlaid with Juliet’s initials in ruby red cursive.

 

“What happens when it rains? Will it ruin him?” Jack asks one day in the lull between projects, as Juliet finishes the last loop of red and takes a step back.

 

“Well I was thinking a clear sealant, since it’s a metal paint and I didn’t paint over any movable parts except the hands but the fingers are paint free so there shouldn’t be any issue with everything working as normal, the only issue is making sure it doesn’t melt off. If the sealant doesn’t work I can always redo it with some sort of stain, it’d be a pain but if that’s what it takes I’ll have to do it,” She shrugs before turning back to the Bot, “Now you go somewhere to dry off, I’ll be fine by myself for the rest of the day.”

 

“Now what will you do with your time? Don’t tell me you’re gonna paint all my Bots.” Jack jokes as Manna wanders off and Juliet gathers up her paints and brushes.

 

“Well bother you duh, that’s what friends are for!” She coos at him as she zips up her bag, leaning over the metal table between them to smear the excess paint on her hands on Jack’s cheeks. Jack makes a high whiny sound and bats her away, smearing oil on her shirt in retaliation.

 

Juliet gasps in mock offence, taking a swipe at Jack’s ribs “You bitch!” she half shouts before lunging across the table to grab at Jack’s tattered trench coat. Jack shrieks and jumps away from her, immediately darting around the table and somehow dodging Juliet’s grabbing hands as he sprints out the lab doors.

 

Jack pauses just long enough to hear muffled cursing and heels clattering to the concrete floor before sprinting past the stairs and sliding around the corner just as Juliet bursts through the lab doors. Jack hears Juliet’s laughter and the soft pad of bare feet on wood paneling follow him as he runs through the bland entryway and matching living room, she’s definitely gaining on him, in a last ditch effort to not get tackled into the hardwood floor Jack slips through the glass doors into the back yard.

 

He hears Juliet pick up the pace just before they hit the grass, and then silence. Jack, familiar with Juliet’s particular brand of creeping, doesn’t look back and runs as hard as he can. Winding between trees and dodging bushes is just delaying the inevitable, and when Juliet tackles him from the side without any warning he’s not even surprised.

 

They roll together a good distance away from where Jack was first hit and land hard, Jack flat on his back with Juliet sprawled on top of him with her face crammed into his shoulder. They both lay there a moment in silence before Jack huff's an amused breath and removes the arm he’d tucked protectively around her head when they rolled, Juliet lets out a giggle, fingers twitching where they’re rested against the back of his neck. She quickly dissolves into uncontrollable laughter against his shoulder, letting out unattractive snorts between gasps for air. Fondness fills in Jack’s chest, brotherly and affectionate, familiar and rare without her around. He’s grinning as she sits up, only slightly, to check him over for injuries.

 

Juliet mirrors his grin, framed by her cloud of amber corkscrew curls that fall loose from her once carefully put together bun. Silver eyes flash with more mischief before she speaks “You owe me a new shirt Spicer,” her voice is warm, the slight teasing in her tone offset by the joyful crinkle in the corners of her eyes “unlike Mister leather trench coat over here, oil is very noticeable on my clothes.” She sits up fully and slides off his torso, legs still draped over his own as she leans back into the grass with arms spread out. Jack reaches for her hand across the grass and they lock fingers loosely and stare up at the cloudless blue sky, his nearly translucent and pale against her golden copper.

 

“Anything for you Jewels.” If Jack holds on tighter than normal, well, that’s just between him and Jewels.

 

* * *

 

 

The following week is hectic and lively in a way that Jack is unaccustomed to. The moment the paint dries Juliet drags Manna along with her to descend upon other parts of the house, bouncing between projects with four or more other Jackbots other than Manna trailing behind her to help in some way. The foyer slowly fills with golds and oranges, the first image fully completed is a small bright sun that settles half set over the canopy of barely outlined trees that line the floors. Juliet seems to lose interest after the trees are outlined and moves on to the next room, walls only half colored with slowly darkening orange as it reaches half up the wall on all sides.

 

The living room brightens with a field of wildflowers in various colors, the outlines of the same trees in the forest packed tightly around on all sides. Juliet focuses on each individual flower; adding texture and life to each bloom before losing interest momentarily and bouncing off to add a wispy cloud and a touch of pink or purple to the foyer. Eventually the field is filled with color as the flowers are completed, the sunset in the foyer accumulates clouds and fades to the pink and purples of dusk high up the wall. The trees in both rooms stay untouched besides the vague outlines, Juliet seemingly uninterested in the large blank gap between the trees in the left corner of the room. She moves on to the kitchen.

 

The kitchen, strangely, is finished in one day. Jack wanders in at three that morning to Juliet fully dressed and intent as she outlines the leaves of the final tree. He leaves her be and by midnight she’s finished and passed out on the couch with her team of Jackbots cleaning up the mess. The trees are finally completed, they line the walls with dark bark and patches of bright green leaves accenting every thin tree. Sunlight is painted to stream through the gaps in the much looser packed trees, shining across the small bright flowers like the ones in the living room that dot the roots of the trees. They are quickly filled in with color as well, though they are far less detailed than the field in the living room, before being ignored for the cabinets. The cabinets and countertops remain largely white as Juliet focuses on outlining all the doors with different brightly colored cartoon vegetables and kitchen utensils before labeling each door with looping red cursive. It reeks of paint, but with the window open should be fully useable by morning. Jack only shrugs and orders take out.

 

The only room on the first floor with color before Juliet descended upon the house is the formal dining room, designed to intimidate and flaunt the family wealth, the formal dining room is filled with old Spicer heirlooms and all treasures the Jack’s parents have acquired over the years. Along with deep red walls covered in rich golden swirls interlocked with intricate silver flora that make up most the Spicer family crest and several disapproving looking family portraits, the room practically screams for anyone outside the family to envy or fear the owners of such treasures. Juliet absolutely hates it, and quickly ruins it, instructing the Jackbots to move all the display cases and large paintings into the entryway for safe keeping before stripping the paint off the walls and starting over.

 

The new formal dining room is done in white surprisingly, with nearly invisible frost like patterns added in silver. Juliet badgered Jack for an hour until he finally cracked and helped her look for the original Spicer family crest to copy and add over the double doors. Jackbots hover worriedly underneath Juliet as she paints the ceiling while cradled in Manna’s arms, their constant monotone ‘do you need assistance Miss’ echoing through the house at 3 am. After several breaks to add to the foyer, the ceiling is transformed into a large clear night sky filled with stars. The room stays empty, the valuables and painting moved to an empty guest room for now, until new display cases can be delivered and Juliet can find a nice way to return the family painting to the main Spicer estate.

 

By the end of the second week only two rooms are completed, the entire house smells like paint, and Jack finds Juliet straddling Manna or handing off several Bots to reach high places countless times. It’s loud and honestly pretty stupid, but Jack hasn’t felt this content since he moved here years ago.

 

* * *

 

 

The second week ends without much incident, neither of them bring up Juliet’s break up or the alarm that goes off every few days for Shen Gung Wu that Jack ignored and then turned off completely.

 

“Hey Jewels you in there?” Jack knocks on the door to Juliet’s room while batting away the borderline frantic blue feathered Jackbot next to him as it tries to get to its mistress. “Manna chill she’s probably fine you’ve been down for maybe an hour.” The Bot lets out a high whistle but beyond that ignores him until Juliet’s voice answers.

 

“Yeah come on in!” Jack opens the door and lets Manna pass him first into the room, the Bot zooms over to Juliet’s side and bumps her affectionately before catching her as she almost topples over. Juliet laughs loudly and twists in the Bot’s arms until she can see Jack “You’d think we’d been separated for months instead of like an hour.”

 

“Yeah I dunno how he got so attached to you, I checked him over and there’s nothing out of the ordinary so somehow you’ve charmed a robot into loving you, I mean, yeah all the Bots have emotion chips but I’m fairly certain he has no way of actually forming bonds, but whatever, it’s probably some sort of magical shit,” Jack shrugs as he dodges around all the paint supplies to open the glass doors of Juliet’s balcony, “Also please open these so you don’t actually pass out I’m pretty sure it would give Manna a heart attack and I’m not even sure how that would happen.” he gripes, collapsing on top of the three comforters of varying colors piled on her bed.

 

“Oh it’ll be fine, I haven’t passed out from paint fumes in months,” Juliet says nonchalantly as she straddles Manna’s shoulders, he lifts her up easily to the center of the wall where she resumes painting, “And if my gorgeous face and personality has taught a robot to love then that’s the least of our worries.”

 

“You know what, I’m not going to dignify any of that with a response.” Jack huffs and rolls onto his stomach to watch her paint. It’s indistinct at the moment but it reminds him of fire, it has all the right colors for it but the shape seems strange more like a huge wing than some kind of wildfire. It feels somehow familiar and Jack relaxes into the bed while keeping his eyes on the motions of Juliet’s paintbrush as it adds shades of yellow.

 

“That’s fine.” They spend a long while in silence as Juliet paints and Jack lounges on her bed, after a bit Juliet begins to hum and Jack relaxes further into the bed. Jack pulls over a pillow and ignores the splotch of yellow paint stuck to the silk sheets as he smooshes his face into it, he sighs as the smell of paint fumes that fill the entire house is blocked by the familiar cinnamon spice of Juliet’s perfume. Soon Jack begins to dose lightly, but is startled awake again when Juliet stops humming and speaks “Hey Jack can I talk to you about something?”

 

Jack is suddenly wide awake as her words sent a sudden jolt of anxiety through him, hundreds of possibilities rush through his head in the few seconds before he responds.  “Yeah sure Jewels what’s up?”

 

“I want you to go back to Shen Gung Wu hunting.” Jack sits up on his elbows quickly and stares at Juliet’s back. To a casual observer she seems just as relaxed as the moment before, but Jack has known her for most of his life and can easily spot the tension in her shoulders and the slight straightening of her back, she was preparing for an argument.

 

“Jewels…” he sighs and now she’s visibly tense, her posture suddenly too perfect and movements careful and precise. “No hey listen, I would love to go back to Wu hunting but I need to know you’re okay before I do anything!”  Juliet sighs and taps Manna’s head to lower them back to the ground, she hops down and walks back over to sprawl across the bed next to Jack.

 

“I don't know what I’m feeling right now honestly. I don’t think I loved her, not really at least, I just liked what she represented. Jasmine was... different than most everyone else I’ve known, I mean you of all people know how difficult it is for me to tolerate other people enough to willingly interact, so I think I’m more upset that I lost something so rare than I am about Jasmine specifically.” She sighs and covers her face with her hands. “Besides she used me just as much as I did her, all I was some status symbol anyway. So really neither of us were exactly right in this situation.”

 

“Jewels I don’t really know all about what happened with you two, which is totally fine by the way no pressure, but what I do know is that you’re the only one of us that actually knows what you need. I mean, you’re literally my only friend and you’re the one that usually does most of the comforting so I have literally no clue how to actually help you emotionally.”  Jack huffed a frustrated sigh. “What I’m trying to say is that you've always been there when I’ve needed you, so anything you need right now is fine. We’ll do whatever you’re comfortable with, when you’re comfortable. Whatever you decide is fine with me as long as you’re happy.” he finishes with a sigh. Juliet looks over at him with a stubborn gleam in her eyes.

 

“I want you to go back to Wu hunting.” she pauses to sit up and fiddle with the top comforter, “but I want to come with you, I think a distraction is what I need right now.” she finishes, looking up and locking eyes with Jack.

 

“It’s a deal, shake on it?” He asks, lips twitching into a smile as he holds out his hand. Juliet returns the smile before grabbing his hand and giving it a firm shake.

 

“It’s a deal.”

 

* * *

 

 

The next hour is sort of awkward, neither sure how to act after a serious heart to heart. However, they get past it quickly, Jack chattering away about the Heylin and Xiaolin sides. Manna putters around Juliet’s room organizing the mess as best he can while avoiding a pacing and flailing Jack. Eventually Juliet takes pity on the struggling Bot and gets up to help, expertly dodging Jack’s flailing limbs as they organize the room while only half listening to the tirade about the ‘Xiaolin losers’ she’s heard at least eight times by now. Just as she picks up the last container off the floor a loud piercing alarm goes off. Manna stills and immediately goes to Juliet’s side and Jack pauses mid breath to look towards the noise when suddenly there’s a huge crash from downstairs, Manna instantly leaves Juliet’s side to help guard the house from whatever danger just attacked. Jack and Juliet share a look before the running the same direction towards the noise.

 

“What the fuck was that!?” Juliet yells over the alarm as she follows Jack towards his lab.

 

“I have a few guesses!” Jack calls back as they slide to a stop at the doors to the lab, they’ve been forced open by Jackbots, rubble moved to the side so they could get through.

 

Jack steps forward cautiously through them and they’re greeted by destruction. The lab is trashed and mostly dark, debris litters the ground along with pieces of Jackbot and other high end tech. Juliet’s eyes widen in shock at the destruction and she gasps loudly as a particular Jackbot with silver blue wings unsteadily hovers towards her, Manna is dented and scorched with one arm ripped off and sparking, he’s barely able to hover a few inches off the ground, his once bright silver body now scuffed and dreary. Manna lets out a high glitchy screech as he tries desperately to reach Juliet, clawing deep gouges into the concrete floor when his jets fail him momentarily before bobbing back into the air, he manages to make it to Juliet's feet before collapsing completely. Juliet kneels next to the mangled Bot as he quickly loses power “I’m okay, don't worry you did your job.” she soothes the Bot and then falls silent as the last bit of energy leaves Manna’s body and he goes dark.

 

Silence falls momentarily over the lab, the only sounds the shifting of rubble and distant shrieks of the other Jackbots. Juliet tentatively reaches out to touch what’s left of Manna’s mangled blue wings where they’re curled around his chest, she lets a strange sound that could have been a soothing coo or a very soft sob before moving to lift what’s left of Manna’s body off the floor. Jack moves to help her lift him but freezes as she flinches away, holding the broken Bot tightly to her chest even as her arms shake from his weight. Juliet struggles over to an intact table deeper into the shadow of the lab and sets Manna there as gently as she can, she presses her palm to the initials on the circle in his chest and whispers something to the Bot that Jack can’t quite hear. It’s quiet again, the cries of the other bots have stopped and the only sound Jack can make out in Juliet's soft breathing, suddenly the quiet is broken by a group of voices calling Jack’s name.

 

There’s a loud shifting of rubble and then four monks stand in front of them, the smallest of the group jumps forward over the warped metal of a Jackbot with a shout “Jack Spicer! We have come to stop your evil plan!” he exclaims, chest puffed out and pointing dramatically.

 

Jack groans in annoyance “What are you blabbering about cheeseball? I don’t have any evil plan.” Jack runs a hand roughly through his hair with a huff, “geez a guy leaves for a couple of weeks so of course he’s up to something.”

 

“To be fair you usually are” Juliet mutters from behind him, walking out of the shadow of the lab to stand next to Jack and lean heavily into his side.

 

“Jewels back me up here!” Jack whines, flailing a bit at her sudden weight before steadying both of them and crossing his arms defensively. Juliet just smirks as she examines the four intruders before putting on her best disappointed parent face and eyeing the rubble around them.

 

“So, these are those Xiaolin monks you told me about? They aren’t exacting what I expected.” Juliet muses, leaning more into Jack and staring at the group very intensely.

 

“Oh, hello Miss! I am Omi. We did not know Jack Spicer had company” Omi smiles up at Juliet, totally unaware of the less than welcoming look on her face. Juliet’s hard stare softens slightly with his cheerfulness and she huffs out a large sigh before moving away from Jack and walking towards the door of the lab.

 

“Alright then, if we’re going to do this the polite way let’s get out of the wreckage.” she pauses at the opened doors and waves them over “since you’re here I’ll be Interrogating you over this Shen Gong Wu business, it’s the least you could allow after breaking our house.” Juliet snipes a bit, her lips twitch a bit when the monks quickly shuffle along through the door looking a bit embarrassed.

 

Jack follows behind the monks but pauses to question Juliet “Why exactly are we letting them inside?” Juliet shrugs and waves him through the door before tugging it closed behind them. “Aren’t you mad about Manna?” he asks softer so the monks won’t overhear as they look around the half painted foyer.

 

“Well I’m going to need to know your enemies if I’m joining you on this crazy train and I might as well be civil about it.”  Juliet’s mouth thins into a hard line “and yes I’m livid but stabbing them won’t get me the information I need.” Jack nods with a grimace as Juliet walks away to lead the monks down the hall a stiff, clearly forced, polite smile on her face. Juliet leads the group to the living room and gestures to the half circle of chairs and couches facing the TV before leaving to make tea, Kimiko quickly following with a murmured ‘I’ll help’ and a quick wave off of the other monk’s concerns. Unfortunately, this leaves Jack all alone to handle the rest of the monks, he’s immediately on the defensive when Raimundo turns to him with a smirk.

 

“So that’s what you’ve been doing these past few weeks, gotta say Spicer didn’t know you had it in ya” Raimundo leers in the direction Juliet and Kimiko left, completely missing the horrified look on Jack’s face.

 

“No. No. Nope, not doing this. NO!” Jack half shrieks, jumping up and flailing his arms wildly “Gross man she’s my sister!” Jack continues, crossing his arms and glaring at Raimundo.

 

Raimundo raises his hands in a placating gesture before speaking “Woah man sorry, you guys don’t exactly look alike.” he says defensively, glaring back at Jack.

 

“He’s right there pardner, the two of you are about as different as day and night in terms of looks.” Clay tries to calm the two as they continue glaring at each other. Jack calms slightly and nods a bit at his words before sitting back down, still shooting Raimundo dirty looks occasionally.

 

“Fine I get it, we’re not actually related or anything but that doesn’t mean any of you should try anything!” Jack glares at the room in general before continuing “Jewels is gorgeous of course but we grew up together, she’s the closest thing to a sibling I have.” Jack huffs before relaxing completely as Juliet comes back into the room carrying a tray with a tea pot and cups, Kimiko trailing behind her.

 

“We heard yelling what happened?” Juliet asks as she sets the tray on the coffee table in the center of the chairs and pouring a cup for everyone “I leave you four alone for five minutes, honestly.” she says coolly, sipping her tea and sharing a vaguely amused look with Kimiko.

 

“Just a misunderstanding Ma’am, we didn’t mean to cause no trouble” Clay answers sheepishly, removing his hat and rubbing at the back of his neck.

 

Juliet sighs and passes Jack his cup before sitting next to him and crossing her legs “You guys thought we were banging, right?” she says bluntly, the monks all choke simultaneously on their tea, she smirks a little behind the rim of her cup. “It’s a pretty common mistake, we are technically dating but it’s mostly just to get Jack’s family off his back. How long we’ve known each other and the fact that I’m a huge lesbian kinda puts a block on any romance that might develop, you know how it is.” She fakes casualness, obviously smirking now as the three male monks choke on their tea again.

 

Jack rolls his eyes at the monks as they regain their composure “Jewels, quit fucking with them and get on to what you wanted to ask. I want these Xiaolin dweebs out of our house.”

 

Juliet nods sharply and squares her shoulders before she speaks “Right, I have a few questions for the lot of you about this Shen Gong Wu business.” She pauses to see if any of them have any complaints and smiles a bit when Kimiko slaps a hand over Omi’s mouth before he speaks. “Before that though I should introduce myself. My name is Juliet Celandine, and I could not care less about this whole Xiaolin verses Heylin business. I need you all to understand that the only thing I’m here for is Jack, you all can fight and do whatever you need for your little Good versus Evil shtick. I won’t stop you, do whatever you all must to make yourselves feel like you’re doing your jobs, but don’t drag me into it. I will always choose Jack.” She looks that the monks very intently to make sure they understand before continuing “Kimiko gave me a bit of a rundown about all of you, and of course I’ve heard plenty about you from Jack” Juliet shoves her elbow into Jack’s ribs when he smirks “Don’t worry about introducing yourselves, I’ll figure it out. Anyway, first question: How often does Wu usually pop up? I was under the impression it was once maybe twice a week, why were you all so sure Jack was up to something if he’d only missed a couple showdowns?”

 

“Well actually it’s been a pretty busy couple of weeks, for whatever reason a lot of Wu have activated all at once, all around the same area. It’s just strange that Jack didn’t show up for any of them so Omi immediately decided Jack had some plan to steal the Wu from us” Kimiko explains, unable to stop Omi before he pipes up.

 

“Jack Spicer is always trying to steal from the temple! It is not strange to think he’d try to again!” Omi exclaims, quickly being backed up by the other monks.

 

“It’s not like it’s hard to get them back anyway, Jacks too weak to be any sort of real threat. We just figured we’d save ourselves the trouble” Raimundo shrugs, leaning back into his chair and putting his feet on the coffee table.

 

Jack doesn’t even blink at the casual insult but Juliet’s mouth thins into an unhappy line “So to save yourself the trouble you decided to break our house, you do understand we have a front door, right?” Juliet looks very pointedly at Raimundo’s feet on the table until Kimiko shoves them off.

 

“A- anyway to answer your question: Yes, Shen Gong Wu usually only activate once a week or so but there are some exceptions and these past two weeks have been one of them. Things seem to have calmed down now, but Dojo’s so worn out it’s not like he’d be much help anyway” Kimiko tries to distract from the offense Omi and mostly Raimundo have caused as Clay tilts his hat in Juliet’s direction to show her the sleeping dragon inside.

 

Juliet nods, the tense line of her mouth not softening “There’s something else I’d hoped you’d know, but you might have to ask that dragon of yours or your master. Can anyone use Shen Gong Wu or do they have to have some sort of magical affinity? You as Xiaolin monks obviously have some sort of magic in you to control the elements, and most on the Heylin side clearly have magic but is it required?” Juliet questions coolly, her voice showing her irritation.

 

Kimiko frowns in thought but it’s Omi who answers “That is a most interesting question Miss! Even I do not have the answer to it! Though it is most likely that it is not necessary since Jack Spicer can use them, someone so incompetent could never have the ability to wield Shen Gong Wu if there was any sort of rule to it.” Omi answers confidently, completely missing the way Juliet’s eye twitched at the casual insult.

 

“We’ll be sure to ask Master Fung Ma’am, that is a mighty important thing to know.” Clay answers politely and Kimiko quickly speaks before the others can.

 

“I gave you my phone number, right? I can text you when we figure out the answer.” Juliet gives Kimiko a nod of gratitude, taking a deep breath before answering.

 

“Thank you, Kimiko that would be, very helpful.”

 

Juliet’s mild interrogation of the monks continues, her irritation growing with every casual insult thrown at Jack that he doesn’t even react to. Kimiko and Clay try to mediate between Juliet and the other two monks but eventually even they started to throw casual jabs at Jack, laughing at shared jokes at his expense and constantly calling him useless, unnecessary, weak among many thing that Jack just accepted. It was clear to anyone with eyes that Juliet was becoming more agitated by the minute, Jack picking up on the increasing tension in the room and trying to calm Juliet silently with a calming hand or leaning into her side for comfort to try and calm her before she snapped.

 

It didn’t work.

 

“That’s enough” Juliet’s voice is completely calm, darkly commanding the monk’s attention and silence before she leans forward to set her now cold tea on the table. She sits back in her seat before speaking again, face utterly blank. “You think just because you’re some so called ‘good’ that you can just do whatever you want, that you can treat people however you like. So long as things are good for you they’re clearly the ‘right’ way to do things, right? Newsflash kids: that’s not how this shit works. I don’t give a damn who you think you are, you can’t just destroy things that are important to people and get away with it.” Juliet stands from her seat, glaring fiercely at the monks in front of her. Her hands are shaking, she grips the sides of her legs to stop them before she continues “You need to seriously think about how you’re advertising the side of good. Because from where I’m standing it looks a lot like the side of evil.” Juliet turns sharply and exits the room, the sharp click of her heels slowly fading as she gets farther away.

 

Omi jumps up, indignant at being called anything but good, but Clay grabs him before he can run after her. “She’s right Omi” Kimiko says quietly, staring down at her lap ashamed “We screwed up.”

 

Jack stands from his seat, walking to the archway out of the room and pausing “I think it’s time for you to leave.” he says without turning around, he continues towards the front door and waits for the monks to follow him. They do slowly, most having the decency to look sheepish and ashamed at their behavior, Omi still looks mildly indignant but it seems like Juliet’s words are sinking in a little because he seems to wilt a little when he meets Jack’s eyes. Kimiko is the last to walk out, she turns to Jack as the others wake Dojo and prepare to leave.

 

“Jack, will you apologize to Juliet for me? She was really nice before all this even after we… ruined things. She doesn’t have to forgive us I just want her to know.” Kimiko asks hesitantly, clearly deep in thought.

 

Jack sighs and nods “She’s big on second chances, but don’t screw that one up too, you won’t get another after that. Just, think about what she said alright? It might not be what you want to hear but in my experience she usually has a point.” Kimiko nods, determined look in her eye and leaves to join her fellow monks. Jack closes the door without another word, he has an idea of where Juliet went.

 

Sure enough she’s in the wreckage of the lab, staring at the cold shell of Manna. Jack can’t see her expression where she’s half shadowed in the dark half of the room but she appears to be whispering to the Bot. He decides to give her another few minutes to finish up as he heads over to the backup Jackbots used for cleaning up messes like this. He activates three of them and gives them their orders, then makes his way across the room to stand next to Juliet. They stand quietly for a long while, the sound of shifting rubble and whirring of engines surrounding them.

 

Juliet looks up at him, tears pooling in the corner of her eyes. “I really hate people” she says miserably. quickly covering her face with her hands before the tears can fall “I finally had something good focus on, I had you and Manna and everything was going so _well_ and I thought I finally had something to help me get over everything and they killed it Jack.” she sniffles quietly as she can, shaking like a leaf. Jack slowly puts and arm around her waist and pulls her to his side in an attempt to comfort. She lets out a wounded whine before continuing “You know how difficult it is for me to care about things, and how weird it is that I got to attached so quickly. I guess I was just looking for something happy to latch onto, I don’t know.” Jack leans his cheek on top of her head and lets her wipe away her tears, knowing she’d hate it if he did anything but support her right now. Eventually she sags against his side, leaning heavily into him and allowing herself to be guided out of the dark lab.

 

“Let’s get you to bed alright?” Jack suggests, leading her up the stairs and into her room without much fight. Once she’s sat on her bed Jack helps ease off her heels and helps her under the covers, he sits with her until he thinks she’s fallen asleep before standing up.

 

Just as he reaches the door Juliet’s voice calls, muffled underneath the covers “Jack?”

 

“Yeah Jewels?”

 

“Do you think you can fix him?”

 

“I don’t know, but I’m going to try”

 

“Thanks Ruby”

 

“No problem Birdy”

 

Jack waits until he hears her breathing slow before he closes the door and makes his way back down the stairs. He hesitates briefly in front of the lab doors before walking through, making his way over to Manna and rigging some lights to see by.

 

He had a robot to fix.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I could really use some help with editing and general motivation to write, if anyone would like to be my beta and help me out or let me know where I could find one that would help a lot! Thanks for reading!


	3. The First Showdown

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Everyone should give a big thank you to [colorfulcipher](http://colorfulcipher.tumblr.com/) on tumblr for being a lovely person and helping me with ideas for this fic! Without her I'd be way less motivated and this would have taken way longer! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Jack spends a total of three days non-stop in the lab before Juliet drags him out. Time passes in a blur, he’s vaguely aware of food appearing in his line of sight every few hours, along with several large containers of coffee and various energy drinks, but he never actually sees Juliet come and go. His Bots of course, are used to this behavior and dutifully clean around him without issue, gently nudging him out of the way to clear rubble and rebuild the walls of his lab. He starts losing time on the third day, eyes drooping heavily one minute before jerking awake the next. This continues for several hours before he’s suddenly lifted into the arms of a Jackbot and carried out of the lab, Juliet stands just outside the doors and rolls her eyes at his half coherent complaints, gesturing for the Bot to follow her up the stairs and to Jack’s room.

 

“Jack honey, it’s very sweet that you’re so serious about fixing Manna but you’re going to lose a limb if you go on like this,” Juliet chides uselessly, Jack too sleep deprived to register her words. He doesn’t complain as his jacket and shoes are removed, only letting out the smallest of annoyed groans as he’s tucked into bed. “Hush Jack, the robots will be there in the morning.” Jack quickly falls asleep to the sound of Juliet puttering around his room, dead the world within seconds.

 

* * *

 

 

Jack sleeps for a full day, waking up slowly and blearily looking around his room. When his brain finally catches up, he groans, tiredly rubbing at his face before shoving his blankets away and sitting up. He quickly downs the glass of water left on the bedside table before he considers standing up, after a moment of deliberation he stands and stumbles into the bathroom. After a much needed shower, Jack shoves on some pajama pants before he goes looking for Juliet. He finds her in the living room, supported by a Jackbot as she puts the final touches on the tops of the trees. She paints the last leaf in a dark green, tapping the Jackbots head to be lowered to the ground.

 

Jack loudly pads his way through the door and across the room to her as she puts away her paints, she smirks at him as she stands up, “Sleeping beauty has returned to us! I thought you’d never wake up Ruby!” she flings herself at him for an over dramatic hug, Jack only grumbles for a bit before squirming out of her hold and heading for the kitchen. He pours himself a large cup of coffee, gulping half of it down before wincing at the taste, adding cream and sugar to the remaining half until it’s hardly coffee anymore. It takes him a second to register the large glass of water and plate of food Juliet puts in from of him, he doesn’t even whine about being mothered before wolfing down the food and draining the water, the second glass of water that slides into his view is eyed for a moment before being ignored completely for the mug of super sweet coffee. Juliet huffs in amusement, giving him a few more minutes to wake up before she speaks, “You alive yet Jack? I would make a joke about the food being at least edible since I haven’t touched it, but that might be too complex for you right now.” She smirks at him again before picking up his empty plate and putting it in the sink, she nudges the glass of water towards him again.

 

Jack sighs and drains the glass before speaking “Thanks Mom, I’m used to these all-nighters though, it’s no big deal.” He shrugs, gulping down the last of his coffee before putting the mug in the sink.

 

Juliet’s mouth twists unhappily but she lets it slide, “This is like when you nag me for painting with the windows closed: admittedly yes, a bad decision, but will that stop me? Nope.” She ushers him into the living room and makes him sit before continuing, “So I’m not going to nag you too much for this but try not to make it too much of a habit, deal?” she stretches out next to him, resting her bare feet in his lap.

 

“Deal. So, do you want to hear about what I’ve completed so far?” Jack asks, propping his feet on the coffee table in front of him and relaxing into the couch. When Juliet nods, he calls for a Jackbot to bring Manna, the Bot soon hands him a small metal orb and Jack begins to explain. “So, you remember the chameleon bot? This is sort of like that, except it’s just birds for now, it seemed fitting.” He shoots a smirk at Juliet before continuing, “For now, there’s only two different species it can change to: A Raven and one of those transformer owl things.” Juliet snorts and eyes the metal orb dubiously before speaking.

 

“You know I’m pretty sure those owls have actual names.” She’s already tapping on her phone, googling the transformer owl.

 

“You hush, I’m explaining. Anyway, I also updated Manna’s programing. Before he was just a slightly edited Jackbot, all I needed to do was tweak a few things for a fully functioning Bot that only listens to you except for emergencies. With this however, I had to calibrate different movement, behavior, new emergency programs, and way more stuff while still keeping him Manna.” Jack huffs a bit, clearly frustrated, “That’s what took so long, it’s also why he can only shift into two different birds. I wanted to do more but Manna fought me at every turn.” He rolls his eyes and gives the orb in his hand a dirty look.

 

Juliet rolls her eyes fondly, sitting up and scooting closer to get a better look, “Are you seriously mad about not getting enough variety in your magically changing Birdbot that, might I remind you, you built in three days? Like seriously Jack, I’m relatively certain that’s nowhere near possible for anyone else, especially in that short of a time.” She gently takes the Bot from his hand, cradling it carefully with both of hers, “I hate to break it to you Ruby, but you have no excuse to be huffy for what most people would consider impossible.” she nudges him in the ribs with an elbow, ignoring his whine of protest to focus on the orb in her hands.

 

Jack’s cheeks flush a bit, a proud smirk on his face, “Well duh, I’ve been way ahead of everyone since I was thirteen,” Jack pointedly ignores Juliet’s exaggerated eye roll, “but I still have standards for myself you know? Building robots is supposed to be something I’m good at so not reaching a goal is pretty frustrating.” he finishes, watching Juliet poke at the orb cautiously.

 

“My point is you _are_ crazy good at building robots and tech in general, don’t be so hard on yourself. So you didn’t make a Bot that transforms into a hundred different birds and shoots lasers out its ass, you still built a transforming BirdBot that literally no one else could make.” she shrugs, giving up on finding an on button to look at Jack, “Just because other people have convinced you you’re a useless screw up doesn’t mean you actually are one.” Jack blinks at her in surprise, unsure how to respond to that, eventually Juliet takes pity on him and changes the subject. “So um, is this really Manna?”

 

Jack clears his throat awkwardly before answering, “Yeah it uh, should be at least. He’s set to activate at your voice, just say ‘Manna, wake up’. Assuming he works, the default is the owl. You should put him on the table first though, if he malfunctions I don’t want you hurt.” Juliet nods, looking nervous. She sets the orb gently on the table, shifting a bit until her legs are tucked underneath her on the couch. She looks suddenly anxious, twisting her hands roughly in her lap and chewing on her bottom lip. Jack rests a hand on her shoulder, “Hey, if it doesn’t work I can always try again. This is just the first trial run.” he soothes, she seems to calm a bit, letting her hands sit loosely in her lap and sighing before speaking, loud and clear.

 

“Manna, wake up.”

 

Nothing happens. Juliet grabs the hand on her shoulder and squeezes tightly, letting out a shaky sigh. Jack’s shoulders slump, disappointed, he’s already making calculations for how to fix it when the orb gives a violent lurch. It almost falls off the table, Juliet quickly shooting forward to catch it. Before she reaches it the orb rights itself again, the outside ripples once it steady’s, there’s another moment of silence before a flurry of movement begins. The orb ripples a few more times in quick succession, feathers form and melt away in a variety of colors before a pair of wings solidify, the rest of the body quickly forms before either of them can blink. Suddenly a small owl sits in front of them, it has a gray-brown body and wings with flecks of black. Its face is white, with outlines of black and small spots on the tips of its ‘ears’. Jack stays silent, watching Juliet closely as several emotions pass over her face, she looks hopeful and nervous, glancing between Jack and the Bot in front of them. Jack gestures towards the Bot and Juliet nods, letting out a shaky sigh and nodding sharply.

 

“Manna?” Juliet calls, her voice shaky. The Bots eyes snap open, it blinks its large golden eyes for a moment, it fluffs out its realistic feathers and shakes its small body, letting out a chirp as it looks around. Its eyes pause at Jack for a second before it spots Juliet, it stares for a moment, processing the people in front of it before letting out a loud chirp. It flaps its wings wildly for a moment, trying to fly, once it’s in the air it launches itself at Juliet. Juliet squeaks when the Bot hits her chest, quickly lifting her arms to keep it from falling. It flails wildly before clinging to Juliet’s shirt, cuddling up to her neck. Juliet laughs loudly, sort of hugging the owl to her and looking mildly overwhelmed.

 

“Well I think it’s safe to say that that’s Manna.” Jack says, pleased. Juliet still seems to be processing her arm full of bird, giving him a distracted nod and grinning down at the mound of feathers on her chest. Juliet gently rearranges Manna until he looks less like a pile of feathers and more like an actual owl, Manna allows this quite happily but refuses to leave his new perch on Juliet’s arm. “Well looks like you have your shadow back.” Jack jokes, plucking a few loose feathers out of Juliet’s hair.

 

“You did it Ruby! It’s really Manna!” Juliet grins at him, absolutely elated, pulling him into a one-armed hug.

 

Jack laughs, allowing the affection for a bit before pulling away. “Okay okay, it’s great that he works and everything, but the main thing is if he can change into the other forms.” Jack says, Juliet’s happiness lessens a bit but her eyes are still bright when she nods in agreement. “So, his AI allows him to calculate and decide what shape is best for whatever area or situation you’re in, but for now he only has the ability to change with a voice command since he’s practically a baby. Just ‘Raven’ should work, all we need is to make sure he can do it.” he explains, Juliet nods and relays the command to Manna.

 

Manna seems to process the request for a moment, sitting unnaturally still on Juliet’s outstretched arm. Suddenly Manna’s body begins to change, his wings shift in color and size before turning an inky black on one side, the other stays stuck in between the owls’ form and a raven. His body shifts for a moment, turning black halfway and elongating his beak before stopping. Jack and Juliet both wince at the half-changed Manna, Juliet quickly asking him to change back into an owl. The shift into an owl is much quicker than the first one, though there are still pauses and fixes Manna has to make before he’s perfect.

 

Jack sighs, rubbing a hand through his hair, “Yeah, that’s what I was afraid of, it looks like he has all the proper information to shift into the raven form but there’s some issues communicating the change. It shouldn’t be too difficult of a fix, guess this is what I get for working three days straight,” He looks over at Juliet, she looks disappointed, petting Manna’s head lightly. “Well I guess I can just wait until tomorrow, let you show Manna around.” he offers, Juliet immediately brightens, nodding quickly and jumping up off the couch. Jack grins as she hurries out of the room, chattering at Manna excitedly.

 

Later, when Jack crawls back into bed, he discovers another part of the house Juliet had painted when he wasn’t looking. The dark of his walls cover it during the day, but as soon as Jack shuts off the lights and lays back in his bed he sees it: A galaxy covers his ceiling, it’s much more detailed than the night sky in the foyer or the formal dining room, closer to pictures from telescopes than a regular night sky. Glow in the dark paint covers the ceiling, nebulas and small galaxies swirl across the dark expanse of his ceiling, giving off a soft glow in purples, blues, and hints of green and pink. It relaxes him, feeling somehow familiar, and lulls him to sleep with a small smile on his face.

 

* * *

 

 

Jack rises early the next morning, hoping to finish Manna’s repairs before Juliet wakes up. Once dressed and mostly presentable Jack goes to find Manna, he searches most of the house with no luck before giving up and checking Juliet’s room. Manna is of course there, perched neatly in sleep mode on the canopy frame over Juliet’s head. Jack rolls his eyes, shuffling quietly out of the room to find a Jackbot to get Manna down without waking Juliet. Once Manna is in his arms Jack waves the Jackbot out of the room, he follows quickly, checking Juliet once more to be sure she’s still asleep before closing the door. He waits until he’s at the bottom of the stairs to sigh in relief, his shoulders relaxing as he walks through the doors of the lab. Jack plugs Manna into a charging station before setting him in repair mode and getting to work.

 

The repairs take much longer than expected, the hours pass quickly as he focuses on fixing the malfunctions in Manna. Jack knows Juliet is awake when the kitchen fire alarm goes off, a Jackbot activates to take care of the small fire Juliet apparently started when trying to make breakfast, Jack can hear her frustrated yelling when it opens the door. Jack continues fixing Manna, turning on his music to focus in better. The fire alarm goes off two more times, its muffled over the music but Jack can hear various Jackbots going back and forth to put out the fires. It’s quiet when Jack finishes, he manually actives Manna and runs a few tests to be sure that he’s really fixed before they leave the lab.

 

Jack struggles to keep Manna with him while he checks the kitchen, there’s no visible scorch marks, but two Jackbots putter around baking something. Jack shrugs and heads upstairs, letting Manna go at the top of the stairs and trailing after him to find Juliet. Manna stops at the closed door of the art room, flapping his wings wildly to stay afloat before giving up and going back to perch on Jack’s arm. Jack huffs at his antics and opens the door to the art room, he’s quickly abandoned once Manna spots Juliet in the corner. Manna glides towards her, shifting into a Raven without so much as a pause midair, he circles her twice before choosing to land on the life sized plush giraffe next to her. Juliet glances over at Manna with a soft smile before returning her focus to the pottery wheel in front of her, she smoothly molds the red clay in front of her into a large vase, making a small sound of greeting when Jack walks fully into the room.

“What no shocked reaction? Manna just turned from an owl to a raven midair!” Jack exclaims, flopping over onto the only empty stool in the room. Juliet makes a distracted sound, focused on making the lip of the vase curve out without destroying the whole thing, after a moment Juliet eases her foot off the pedal and looks up.

 

“Oh wow it’s amazing! Wonderful! Astounding!” Juliet says blandly, standing carefully and crossing the room to wash the clay off her hands.

 

“You’re just huffy cause you started like three fires today!” Jack sticks his tongue out at her back, “there’s no need to be snippy.”

 

Juliet groans, rubbing her face with her wet hands, “Ugh, I do not want to talk about that right now.” She grabs a towel covered in dried paint to dry her hands before turning around. She easily weaves around the various art supplies scattered throughout the room to return to the small stool next to the pottery wheel. “It’s frustrating enough that I burn any food I touch, it’s doubly frustrating that I can’t even stand in the general vicinity of the kitchen or I’ll start a fire.” she picks up a thin wire thread and runs in under the base of the clay vase, gently easing the vase onto a thin plastic rectangle and standing.

 

“Aw come on Jewels, it’s not so bad. At least you never have to worry about being cold!” Juliet shoots him a dirty look at the joke, walking over to a shelf filled with other clay pieces in various states of dryness and setting the vase in an empty area. She picks up a fully dry bowl and a small square of sandpaper, moving the paints and brushes off a stool and pulling it across the room to sit across from Jack.

 

“Listen, you can give me shit for this when you can’t eat anything warm without help. Until then, shut your trap.” Juliet says as she starts carefully sanding the bowl, smoothing out any sharp parts quickly and getting dust all over her clay covered overalls and white crop top.

 

“Okay okay, fair enough. But really, what do you think of Manna?” Jack asks, gesturing over to where Manna has settled on the top of the giraffes’ head.

 

Juliet looks up and whistles sharply, Manna’s head pops up, he flies over immediately and settles on top of her head. “Well that not exactly what I wanted but you’re trying I guess,” Juliet lets out an amused huff, a fond smile on her face. She ignores Jack’s loud bark of laughter to continue. “Really though, this is amazing Jack. He’s really realistic, doesn’t look metal-y at all.” Juliet praises, setting the smoothed down bowl on the table next to her. She picks Manna up off her head and pets him a little, smile widening when he nibbles on her finger a bit. “He’s soft too, I don’t know how you did it but good job.” Jack’s cheeks flush at the praise, he picks up a paintbrush to fiddle with.

 

“Thanks Jewels, I’m glad you like him. I’m still planning on adding more bird species to him, but for now I’ll let you two get reacquainted.” He twirls the brush between his fingers, accidentally dropping it with a clatter but continuing anyway. “He’s meant to blend in, be subtler than a Jackbot. He’s got a learning AI and will hopefully be able to decide the right form to blend in at the right time eventually, he has minor defenses for if you’re attacked or are in any sort of trouble, but usually he’ll just alert the nearest Jackbot to come help you. I don’t want him getting destroyed again, the important thing is that he’s yours, so if there’s anything you want me to add to him or fix just let me know.” Jack explains.

 

Juliet nods, smiling a little as Manna nibbles on the loose strap of her overalls, “So I was going to ask, should we be expecting a Shen Gong Wu activation soon? It’s been almost a week since the monks visited.”  Juliet asks, shifting Manna onto her shoulder as she stands.

 

“That’s a good question the times Wu activates is pretty irregular, sometimes it’s one every few days, sometimes there’s a week or so between Wu.” Jack shrugs, watching Juliet put the bowl back on its shelf and cross the room to wash her hands. “Has Kimiko texted you about those questions you asked yet?”

 

Juliet shakes her head as he dries her hands. “No, she hasn’t yet. That’s why I want a Wu to appear.” She heads towards the door, gesturing for Jack to follow her. “The biggest thing I need to know is if anyone can use Wu or not.” She continues as they walk down the hallway, passing the half-finished trees painted on all the walls.

 

“Oh yeah, if not you might not be able to use Wu, right? You could always try one of mine to make sure?” Jack offers, Juliet shrugs as she opens the door to her room and walks in.

 

“Yeah we could try that but that’s not the main reason I want to know. Think about it; the monks clearly have some sort of magic in them, how else could they control the elements? If using Wu requires some sort of magic, the question is: what kind of magic do _you_ have that allows you to use them?” Juliet questions, walking into her closet. Jack considers her question as he sits on the edge of her bed, if Wu has requirements what does that mean for him? Jack stays deep in thought while Juliet rummages around in her closet, throwing her clay covered clothes on the floor outside of the closet while she searches for something clean. Suddenly Jack's watch blares, jerking him out of his thoughts.

 

“Hey Jewels, we’ve got one!” Jack calls, jumping up and setting the tracker to figure out where exactly the Wu is.

 

“Oh, good timing! Where is it?” Juliet calls back, shuffling through her clothes.

 

“Uh, looks like somewhere in Estonia.” Jack answers as the tracker pinpoints the location, he sends the coordinates to the jet quickly.

 

“One sec let me look that up.” There’s some shuffling and typing sounds from the closet, “Ugh.”

 

“What? What’s wrong?” Jack asks, mildly concerned.

 

“I hate the cold.” Juliet whines, shuffling deeper into her closet.

 

Jack pulls out his phone and checks the weather for Estonia, he scoffs when he sees the number, “Jewels, that is not cold. Its mildly chilly at best.”

 

Juliet walks out of the closet, loaded down in layers of warm clothing. “You shut up, it’s cold if I say it’s cold! Come on Manna, we’re going.” Juliet calls to Manna, who flies out of the closet as an owl and settles on her arm.

 

Jack rolls his eyes but stays quiet as they head down stairs and over to the jet, Juliet darting into the art room as they pass to grab a sketchbook. He helps Juliet climb in before starting it up and checking the coordinates. “Okay, shouldn’t be too long of a way.” he mumbles before brightening. “It’s your first Wu hunt! I’m so proud!” Jack gushes suddenly, Juliet kicks the back of his seat.

 

“Just fly the plane Spicer.” Juliet orders, just a hint of fondness in her voice.

 

Jack grins, “Yes Ma’am!” He says cheekily, opening the launch door and shooting out.

 

 

The ride to the Wu is peaceful, nothing but the soft scratch of a pencil on paper as Juliet sketches. Jack focuses on flying, relaxing with the hum of the jet as he follows the coordinates closely. They land a bit away from the exact location of the Wu, in a small clearing some ways away from a small town. Juliet hops out first with Manna in tow, and Jack takes a moment to shift the coordinates onto his phone before following. In the few moments it took for Jack to follow Juliet out of the jet, Juliet made some friends.

 

“Seriously Jewels!?” Jack exclaims towards an occupied Juliet. She ignores him, cooing at one of the seven or so ravens that surround her and a newly shifted Manna. Manna caws at one of the ravens as it flutters forward onto Juliet’s outstretched hand, shifting forward to look it over closely. “Well it’s good to know Manna really matches actual ravens.” Jack mutters to himself as he closes the hatch of the jet, he walks over to stand next to her, the ravens barely acknowledging his presence. “You know, this is cute when it’s pigeons or blue jays that you attract, but right now You just look like a wicked witch.”

 

“Shh, I’m a Disney princess.” Juliet grins, bringing the Raven closer to Manna can interact with it.

 

“Yeah yeah, you’re a regular fairytale come true, but really not the point right now. Say bye to your friends, we’ve got Wu to find.” Jack says, ushering Juliet forward. Juliet waves her arm to make the raven fly away, both Manna and the raven fly off, the others joining them quickly. Jack turns the way the coordinates are pointing and starts walking into the forest. Juliet trails behind him, the ravens follow Manna as he follows Juliet. The walk is mostly silent, just the crunch of leaves and twigs under their feet. Eventually they hear other voices, the monks not even attempting to be quiet in their search. They spot the monks when they enter another clearing, Kimiko holds Dojo out as a detector, waving him in every direction to try and find the Wu. Juliet breaks away from Jack, walking over to Kimiko with a small wave. Jack makes his way towards them at a slower pace than Juliet, watching Juliet ask Kimiko something he can’t hear before Dojo reaches up and grabs Juliet’s face. He quickens his pace, only making out the end of Dojo’s sentence once he gets close enough.

 

“—Definitely have some sort of creature blood in you, it’s probably from some ancestor, plenty of humans had creature kids back in the day. Still, just a little should give you enough to use Wu.” Jack reaches Juliet’s side at the same time Manna lands on her shoulder, Dojo pulls back. “Can’t say what creature it would be though, there are so few left anyway, plus my memory’s not too great anymore. Sorry kid.” Dojo shrugs, settling back into Kimiko’s arms. Juliet turns to him, eyebrows high.

 

“Well that’s one question answered, turns out Wu does have some requirements.” Juliet summarizes, they share a significant look, both deciding to look into this more later. Jack nods slightly before turning back to Kimiko who looks mildly uncomfortable.

 

“Hey Juliet? I uh, I wanted to apologize for how we acted before. We didn’t think it through and upset you unnecessarily. I just wanted to say sorry.” Kimiko squirms, looking ashamed. Juliet softens a bit at her apology, putting a hand on her arm before answering.

 

“It’s alright, so long as you learn from this I’ll forgive you.” She smiles at Kimiko, who brightens immediately.

 

“Oh good! I know we messed up but we promise to do better!” Kimiko smiles at Juliet, clearly elated to be forgiven. “Do you want to try a Wu? I don’t know if you’ve used any of Jack’s but this one is my favorites!” she passes the Star Hanabi to Juliet, Jack immediately panics at the look in Juliet’s eyes and snatches the Wu out of her hands, he hands it back to Kimiko quickly shaking his head frantically.

 

“Maybe a fire Shen Gong Wu isn’t the best idea in a very flammable forest?” Jack reasons, pulling the Changing Chopsticks out of his pocket, “Try these instead.” Kimiko flushes with embarrassment, apologizing to Juliet who just winks at her and mouths something Jack can’t see. Kimiko grins, but Jack doesn’t have time to be suspicious before Juliet is activating the Wu and shrinking rapidly. Manna squawks, flapping his wings wildly at the loss of his perch and scanning the ground for Juliet.

 

She quickly returns to her regular size, grinning widely, “Holy shit, that was awesome!” she passes the Wu back to Jack, hands coming up to soothe a frantic Manna.

 

Kimiko watches her, confusion clear on her face, she looks behind Juliet and spots the other ravens gathered in the trees, “Uh, Juliet? Who are your friends?”

 

Juliet looks up from Manna, confused before her brain catches up with the question, “Oh! Well this is Manna, he’s actually a robot that Jack built for me.” she explains, she turns slightly to gesture to the trees, “These are the ravens, they followed us here!”

 

Kimiko still looks confused, opening her mouth to ask another question. Jack leaves them to their conversation, going back to searching for the Wu. Juliet follows him, and Kimiko quickly tags along, both trailing behind him far enough away so he can’t pick up their conversation. The ravens follow them, Jack thinks he spots a few more than the original seven that surrounded Juliet. The other monks search ahead of them, Jack quickens his pace until he’s level with the others, just as he steps past where Omi is searching a rush of cold flows over him. Juliet notices his pause and quickly jogs to catch up, she shivers at the rush of cold, her breath coming out in a white puff.

 

“Kimiko? What’s this Wu called again?” Juliet calls back, keeping close to Jack when he continues forward.

 

“It’s The Hand of the Frost Giant Miss Juliet!” Omi answers, appearing next to her suddenly. He doesn’t notice when she flinches back in surprise, bumping into Jack before steadying them both. “The scroll says it has the ability to turn anything it touches into solid ice!” He explains, clearly excited about a water type Wu.

 

“Oh great, I love it already.” Juliet says, deadpan. Jack snorts, but Omi doesn’t pick up on the sarcasm.

 

“Yes! It is most wonderful isn’t it Miss!” Omi beams up at her, Jack allows himself to drop back away from them, leaving Juliet to the wolves. Juliet shoots him a betrayed look over her shoulder before putting on an interested face as Omi starts an animated rant about something. Jack feels a little guilty for leaving Juliet alone to deal with Omi, but only for a second, he keeps following the coordinates. When he next checks on Juliet she’s patting an ashamed looking Omi on the head with a genuine smile. Jack shrugs and passes them, according to the coordinates he’s incredibly close to the Wu.

 

After a few minutes of walking the cold gets harsher, snow begins to fall heavily around the shivering group. Jack takes a moment to wish he’d grabbed something warmer like Juliet, not that he’d ever admit that out loud. He and Raimundo are the farthest forward, and spot the Wu at the same time. It’s a gauntlet, encrusted in ice on top of a pile of snow. He and Raimundo run for it, reaching it at the same time.

 

Jack quickly issues the challenge before Raimundo can, “Raimundo! I challenge you to a Xiaolin Showdown! Your Sword of the Storm for my Mantis Flip Coin!” He yells, glancing around for inspiration for a challenge. He spots Juliet and Manna a few feet away, the other ravens still surrounding them even in this cold, he has an idea. “The game is: Find the Raven, the first one of us to find and catch the fake raven Manna wins!”

 

Raimundo nods, looking determined, “I accept your challenge Spicer!” The ground begins to shift, he hears Juliet yelp as the ground rises. The trees grow and shift into giant versions of themselves, encasing the raised ground to make a huge clearing. The flurries of snow increase to nearly blinding levels as the Hand of the Frost Giant floats high above them. Ravens caw loudly, a huge mass of them soar past them and scatter into the trees. Returning one by one in a huge confusing mass until they are blurs of black in the white storm.

 

“Gong Yi Tanpai!” They shout in unison, the game begins.

 

Jack rushes to the edge of the clearing, searching the tree line for Juliet. He spots her huddled together with the monks, shivering but deeply concentrated. They lock eyes, Juliet tilts her chin towards the middle of the clearing, Jack nods and rushes back in. Jack searches through the biting snow, dodging ravens as they pass, blurs of black against stark white. His cheeks sting with cold but he ignores that to look straight up, it’s nearly impossible to see, snow and flashes of black mixing together into a dizzying blur. Jack has to look down, he has to think! Manna is a robot and no matter how well he designed him there must be some flaw, if he could just get closer— Oh he’s an idiot.

 

“Mantis Flip Coin!” Jack yells, he rockets into the air, gets above the worst of the snow flurries. He looks around frantically as he starts to descend, spotting various ravens but unable to see any difference. Suddenly he sees it, a raven passing in front of him, with one eye a bright startling gold. Jack dives for it but gets flung back as Raimundo activates Sword of the Storm, sending Jack flying into a pile of snow. He heard Raimundo laugh as he rights himself, Raimundo knows what to look for now. Jack curses, flinging himself into the air again and again, being knocked down each time. He hears Juliet yelling his name as he hits the ground for the fourth time, he rights himself once again, flying up into the air. He sees Manna flying towards her voice, his programming telling him to soothe Juliet’s worry. Unfortunately, he’s not the only one who sees it. Raimundo uses the storm to block Manna from getting to Juliet, dragging him down until he can grab the Bot. It’s over.

 

Jack is transported to Juliet’s side when things go back to normal, she immediately clings to him, checking for injuries. “Are you hurt?” she asks urgently, turning his body until he looks at her. Jack shakes his head.

 

“No, just some bruises.” He answers after a moment, Juliet slumps with relief and hugs him tightly. Jack watches the monks celebrate, feeling hollow. He wanted so badly to win, just this first time, to show Juliet he could do it. He leans back when Manna joins them, allowing him to nip at his hair for a moment before he shifts the attention to Juliet.

 

“Jack?” Juliet calls softly, Jack turns away from watching the monks to lock eyes with Juliet. She looks worried still, and a little sad. She puts a gentle hand on his face, warming it slowly, she looks for something in his eyes. She’s clearly upset about what she sees, her mouth thins into an unhappy line and she gives a sad sigh. She moves to help him stand, and Jack finally registers what the monks are saying once they steady.

 

“— Let’s see what this thing can do huh?” Raimundo grins at his fellow monks, passing them the other two Wu. he steps back and holds his hand out before speaking. “Hand of the Frost Giant!” Ice splinters from the glove, creating a sharp outside the otherwise smooth gauntlet. Raimundo whoops with excitement, jumping around a bit in joy. That’s when things go wrong. The ice spreads up Raimundo’s arm, it doesn’t budge when he tries to wipe it away. Raimundo starts to panic when it encases his entire right arm, yelling for the other monks to do something, they try to help but soon the ice has fully covered Raimundo. Jack and Juliet stare frozen, shocked at how quickly the Wu turned on him. Juliet clutches his arm, Jack knows she’s picturing him in the same situation. They only move when Kimiko turns to them, panicked. Juliet stumbles forward, hands fumbling their hold on Manna, Jack watches in slow motion as they fall forward. Juliet’s bracelet scrapes against the metal of Manna’s body as they hit the ground hard, and somehow, inexplicably, a fire lights on the dry leaves underneath them.

 

Jack can’t help it, he laughs, loudly and maybe a touch hysterically as Juliet scrambles backwards with Manna in her arms. She looks shocked, eyes wide as she stares at the small fire for a moment before something clicks, she looks up at Kimiko and they nod. Everyone hurries into the trees, finding dry sticks and leaves to add to the small flame. Once Jack gets over his laughing fit he gathers stones to surround the fire so it doesn’t spread to other parts of the forest. Soon they have a decent fire started, it flares higher the closer Juliet gets, no one notices but Jack, he lets out a few wild giggles every time. Clay unsticks Raimundo from the ground and he and Omi hold him over the fire, Kimiko melts his other side as carefully as she can with the Star Hanabi.

 

Jack and Juliet sit on the ground in front of the fire, Juliet soothes and apologies to Manna for falling on him while Jack stares into the fire, dazed. It takes a while to get Raimundo thawed enough to remove the Wu, but once it’s off the rest of the ice disappears. Clay grabs Raimundo before he falls into the fire, Raimundo shivers hard, skin blue.

 

“Maybe, you should keep that one in your vault.” Juliet suggests weakly, they monks nod seriously. Omi puts out the fire with the Orb of Tornami and Dojo grows to his large size. “Get him home safe, be careful when you’re warming him up, you don’t want his body to go into shock.” Juliet instructs, standing and offering a hand to help Jack up, she waves weakly at Kimiko as they fly off.

 

They slowly make their way back to the jet, leaning against each other the whole way. The ravens trail after them, the beating of wings and soft caws the only noise around them. They watch from the trees as Juliet climbs into the jet, leaving one by one once they've lost sight of her. Jack shudders in the silence, feeling suddenly uneasy, and scrambles into the jet after her. Once inside, Jack sets the autopilot to home and sits back, exhausted and emotionally numb. The flight back is silent, both too exhausted or deep in thought to say anything. Jack sees Juliet glancing at him in worry every few minutes, but she stays blessedly silent. Jack just about falls out of the jet once it lands, stumbling up the stairs with Juliet hovering behind him. He collapses into his bed, shoving his shoes and jacket off haphazardly before throwing his comforter half over his body. He spots Juliet in the doorway, she lingers there for a bit before walking completely into the room and shutting off the lights. Jack closes his eyes when she shuts the door, he’s thinks he feels the bed dip under her weight as he falls into a restless sleep.

 

 

Jack wakes up disoriented. He blinks up at his glowing ceiling, dazed, before he registers the warm weight next to him. Juliet sits next to him, leaning against the headboard, face illuminated by her phone. She’s wearing one of his ratty old shirts, her bare legs covered only partially by the dark comforter. He can just make out Manna in sleep mode on the backboard, his dark feathers blending into the darkness perfectly. She presses a button her phone when he shifts, shrouding them in darkness, he can barely see the dark shape of her scooting down the bed to lay next to him. He rolls on his side to face her, squinting in the darkness to see her face.

 

“Hey Jewels.” Jack whispers, his voice rough from sleep.

 

“Hey Ruby.” Juliet whispers back, she’s silent for a while, probably trying to gauge how he’s feeling, she sighs sadly. “How are you feeling?”

 

Jack shrugs, forgetting for a moment that she can’t really see him, making a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat. It’s as accurate as he can be, in truth he’s still kind of numb. He remembers the frustration from yesterday, the embarrassment and shame, that will come back soon enough, but for now he’s numb. “How are you?” he deflects, hoping to avoid the question. Juliet radiates worried feelings, he hates making her worry, it makes something dark twist in his stomach.

 

Juliet knows he’s avoiding her question, and he wonders if she’s going to let him get away with it. She shuffles closer to him, he can barely see the determined set of her mouth, he’s not getting a free pass thing time. “That’s not important Jack,” She starts, sitting up, she leans over him and turns on his lamp before speaking again. “It’s okay to mess up sometimes, you know?” she says seriously, rubbing her eyes and blinking hard to adjust to the light.

 

Jack lets out a sharp bark of a laugh, rolling over on his back and covering his eyes with his forearm. “Yeah of course, but when you fuck everything up constantly like I do it’s less okay.” his voice is bitter he knows, but if they’re going to have this conversation he might as well be honest, Juliet would know if he was lying anyway. He hears Juliet shift forward, and his arm is dragged away from his face, he squints in the light, blinking up at Juliet who hovers over him looking frustrated.

 

“But you don’t!” Juliet snaps, voice louder than before.

 

“Of course I do Jewels! I haven’t won a Showdown in months! And even when I do it’s so fucking rare it doesn’t even matter!” Jack sits up, running his hands through his hair roughly. “I’m a glorified punching bag, just some comic relief between the real enemies.” Jack continues, his head in his hands, tears sting in his eyes. “I can’t even build a robot right, if I had fixed Manna properly Raimundo wouldn’t have been able to figure out which one was Manna.”

 

“Jack…” She holds up a hand when he takes a breath to speak, “No, let me finish.” His mouth clicks shut. “Listen to me, you’re not cut out for this. You’re skinny, clumsy and weak and don’t know a damn thing about fighting. You have no clue what you’re doing.” Jack flinches, squeezing his eyes shut at the harsh words and willing the tears away. “But who gives a shit about any of that.” Jack looks up in surprise, Juliet is looking at him seriously, “Jack, you may not be physically strong or have any sort of training, but you’re smart. You build things no one else could even dream of, you’re creative and resilient and the goddamn smartest person I’ve ever met. So really, who gives a shit if you can’t fight? That does not make you useless, it does not make you a waste of space, and it damn sure doesn’t make you a fuck up.” Juliet locks eyes with him, fierce conviction in her eyes.

 

Jack barely registers the tears falling down his cheeks, sniffling a bit before speaking. “B-but I does mean I can’t do this, I’ve worked so h-hard for all these years and I’m still not cut out to be Heylin.” Jack rubs harshly at his eyes, trying to stop the tears, Juliet puts a hand on his cheek.

 

“Jack, don’t you get it? All your so-called shortcomings are fixable. So you’re not strong? There’s ways to fix that. Can’t fight? There are so many fighting styles to learn, pick one there’s someone who can teach you. Don’t know what you’re doing? Well that’s not really true, you know how this works and what to do, the problem is you’re trying to go about it wrong. You have to play by _your_ strengths, not anybody else's. All you need is some help.”

 

Jack sniffles, leaning his cheek into Juliet’s hand, the tears continue to fall. His hands shake, in fact his whole body is shaking. He thinks of anyone he knows who could train him and the tears fall harder. “B-but Chase won’t—” Juliet cuts him off, other hand coming up to cradle Jack’s face.

 

“Okay first off, fuck Chase Young.” Juliet opens her mouth to continue, looking annoyed at the mention of him.

 

“I’m trying.” Jack gives a wet laugh, Juliet rolls her eyes at him, but she’s smiling when she continues.

 

“Jack! We can talk out your Lizardman crush later this is serious!” She smiles warmly at him for a few seconds before going back to her serious face. “Seriously though, fuck him. You think he’s the only person in the world who can teach you to fight? As if! If he doesn’t see how much potential you have to be something great then he’s not fucking _looking_. He’s supposed to be an immortal badass, he should _know_ that you don’t need brute strength or master fighting skill to be something amazing. The fact that he doesn’t shows that he’s a fucking dumbass.” Juliet gently wipes his face with the corner of his bedsheet. “You’re Jack Spicer: Evil Boy Genius, not some idiot comic relief in a leather jumpsuit.” Jack’s chest swells with affection at the conviction in her eyes, he lets out a wet laugh, his tears slowing to a stop.

 

“Who else could train me?” Jack asks are a while of silence, allowing Juliet to fuss over him.

 

Juliet makes a thoughtful noise before speaking. “Well, I could take you to my self-defense teacher, he could teach you the basics and then we could take a fighting class together?” she thinks for another moment, “And I’m no kung fu master but I could write up an exercise routine.” she checks his face before deeming it dry enough and dropping the sheet.

 

“Do you think it would really help? I mean there’s always a chance I’m horrible at it.” Jack asks, hope cautiously growing in his chest.

 

“Oh, you’ll definitely be horrible at it at first, almost everyone is. Don’t let the monks fool you, it is not normal to know how to fight perfectly immediately, but if you work at it I know you’ll get there.” Juliet answers with a shrug, refusing to sugar coat it. “This is totally your decision, if you don’t want to do this we’ll try something else. This way is going to be hard, but if it’s what you want I’ll support you however you need.”

 

“I— thanks Jewels, I think I should think about this.” Jack says, already going through the pros and cons in his head.

 

“Take all the time you need, one more thing you need to consider though,” She starts, looking at him seriously once more. “If you decide to do this it can’t be for anyone else. This is your life, and your choice, not anyone else’s. You can’t do this for me, or to prove yourself to the Monks, and you damn sure can’t do this for Chase Young.” Juliet sighs, putting a hand on his shoulder. “I know you like him and you want him to respect you and see your worth, I know that, but only being acknowledged once you’re ‘worthy’ is no relationship. You do this to make _you_ happy, and if he notices you because of this that’s great, but he’s going to damn well earn your time, none of this ‘oh I guess you’re good enough now, I’ll allow you to hang around and do whatever I want.’ crap. If Puff the Magic Dragon thinks he can sweep in and steal away _my_ best friend just because he’s a pretty immortal then he’s got another thing coming, namely that I am not afraid to murder an immortal to defend your honor.” Jack snorts, imagining Juliet meeting the Dragon lord.

 

“Oh god, you two should never meet. I don’t want you to die and you’ll definitely be murdered in seconds.” Jack groans, head in his hands and genuinely horrified.

 

“You’re totally right, he’s going to hate me!” Juliet grins, absolutely delighted. She sobers after a few moments, “One more thing, you didn’t fuck up Manna, I told him to change his eyes to give you a tell. I’m sorry for not telling you sooner.” Juliet looks guilty, “I didn’t know how else to help, but I guess I just made things worse.”

 

Jack looks up at her surprised, she squirms under his gaze, Jack softens, “You cheated for me? Jewels I’m touched!” He jokes weakly, Juliet rolls her eyes without thinking.

 

“Sorry Jack, I didn’t realize it would hurt more than it helped.” Juliet apologizes, smiling sadly.

 

“Eh, I think you get a free pass for your first pseudo evil action. I mean cheating to help the side of evil isn’t really a neutral thing to do, even if it backfired.” He grins at her, laughing when she shoves him off the bed. Manna caws from his perch, woken by the loud noise, he checks Juliet for injuries before flying over to land next to Jack’s head. Jack allows a small bit of hope to bloom in his chest as Manna nibbles at his hair, maybe everything will turn out alright after all.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I edited this myself so let me know if you find any mistakes! Thanks for reading!
> 
> Art by my friend bek-adrift [Here](https://bek-adrift.tumblr.com/post/160654041726/commission-for-my-buddy-peachpandabear-of-her)


	4. Training Montage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was actually the second half of the last chapter, it just got really long so I split it. hope you enjoy it!
> 
> For new people, Chapter 3 has art! Please go back and check it out, its by my lovely and wonderful friend bek-adrift [Here](https://bek-adrift.tumblr.com/) art is [Here](https://bek-adrift.tumblr.com/post/160654041726/commission-for-my-buddy-peachpandabear-of-her)

In the end, Jack only takes half the day to decide. Juliet bails soon after their talk to shower, leaving Jack alone for the day to decide on his own. He distracts himself in the lab, tinkering on JackBots to avoid deciding for an hour or so, eventually giving up and actually considering Juliet’s offer. Jack spends hours stressing over the pros and cons of starting the strange, patchwork version of training Juliet suggested. Most of this time is spent venting to a powered down JackBot, the idea somehow less and more nerve wracking when said aloud, the Bot doesn’t give him any answers, but talking through his problems has always helps make a decision easier. After hours of debate, and another thirty minutes of him squashing down his hope on the possibility that this doesn’t help, Jack agrees to try.

 

Juliet beams at him, hopping from foot to foot excitedly before running off to make a phone call. She returns ten minutes later with a class schedule and a half-completed diet plan, ushering him over to the couch to go over the plans. “Okay Rubes, I got you scheduled for the basic self-defense class,” She flops down next to him, setting a sleeping Manna in her lap and leaning in close to show him the papers in her hands, “So, Alec only had time to do an early morning class,” Jack groans, “which is actually a good thing, we’ll have the rest of the day to go Wu hunting or whatever.” Juliet continues, ignoring his complaints.

 

“Okay, you have a point, but I don’t function coherently before like ten at the earliest.”

 

“You’ll be fine, what if there’s a Wu that activates but you miss it cause you weren’t awake?” Jack winces, that _has_ happened a few times, “Besides, that’s what coffee is for,” she continues, tapping on her phone with her free hand, Jack makes a face at the early hour she sets the alarm. “Anyway, the actual classes are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Alec is a darling, you’ll like him, he’s pretty and definitely your type.”

 

Jack sputters, “I do NOT have a type!” He shrieks, Jack feels his face flush as she stares at him, eyebrow raised and clearly amused, thankfully she doesn’t call him on the blatant lie.

 

“Mm-hm, anyway, I also set us up for another class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This one I’ll being doing with you, I moved down to the basic level, if eventually you want to move up to the advanced classes then we can but I wanted to do this with you, this way I’ll be with you for some of it until you finish your basics and we pick another class to do together.” Jack nods, relaxing a bit.

 

“What class is it?” Jack asks, noticing the blank in the schedule for those days.

 

Juliet purses her lips, thinking for a moment before shaking her head, “I’m going to wait until after your first day to tell you. I know you’ll whine about it and we’re not spending the rest of today arguing with you.” Jack squints at her suspiciously but nods, “Weekends are free, though I have plans for a daily exercise routine for the mornings. The weekend plan will be different from the weekly so you have a bit of a break but you still have to get up at a reasonable hour.” She ignores his exaggerated pout and continues, “Also, I’ve written up a diet plan, nothing too bad but it’s necessary.” She passes the other paper to him, luckily, it’s less horrifying than he thought it was going to be.

 

“Wow this has less protein powder than I expected.” Jack muses, looking over her shoulder. “Actually, this doesn’t seem too bad, I can still have snacks and stuff?”

 

Juliet rolls her eyes, “Jack, we’re trying to get you in shape to fight, not beef you up. We want compact muscle, no hulk Jack for now.” she continues, laughing a bit, “Besides, do you remember what I ate for lunch? Bread, literally just bread. Do you think I really give a shit if you have pudding once in a while? At least two or three healthy meals a day is as far as I’m going to go, and you get cheat days because I’m nice.”  Juliet finishes up the plans, putting them away in a nice purple folder. “Oh, we’ll need to take the jet, does it have any sort of cloaking abilities? I don’t think flying a jet into a city area would go over too well.”

 

“Of course it does, who do you take me for.” Jack scoffs, “Where exactly are we going? We’re faster than any commercial or personal plane but depending on how far it is it could still take an hour or so.” Jack asks, already calculating the settings he’ll need for long term cloaking.

 

“It’s in America, close to my old apartment.” Juliet explains, waking Manna from sleep mode with a low whistle.

 

“Okay, so like an hour away.” Jack mutters under his breath, completely missing the surprised look on Juliet’s face. Manna chirps at him and snaps him out of his planning spree with an affectionate nibble of his shirt. “Hey buddy, anyway shouldn’t be a problem. The sooner we get there the more I get to sleep, right?” Juliet stares at him for a moment before shaking her head with a fond smile.

 

“Sure thing Ruby, though you still need to be up pretty early,” She shifts Manna to her shoulder before standing, “Today is your last day of freedom, what do you want to do?”

 

“Mario kart?”

 

“Only if you don’t cry when I destroy you on rainbow road.”

 

“That was one time!”

 

“Don’t lie to me or yourself Jack, it’s been at least six times.”

 

* * *

 

 

Juliet is predictably merciless in the morning, waking him up with a pillow to the face at exactly 7:15. She forces him into the shower and presses a brand-new workout outfit into his hands, lingering in the doorway of his room until she’s sure he’s awake and moving. Jack stumbles down the stairs a good half hour later, mostly awake and definitely grumpy. He doesn’t get a chance to complain as the second he enters the kitchen Juliet shoves a large, sweet mug of coffee into his hands. Once he’s drained that, she forces him to sit and eat the slightly burnt breakfast she made, making up for it with a large travel container of coffee. It’s a few minutes after that, when they’re almost to the jet, when Jack realizes something else.

 

“Why aren’t you in workout clothes?” Jack asks, still only half awake. Juliet just smirks at him, ushering him into the jet. Manna glides around his head, cawing loudly until he climbs in. Manna settles on the control panel, watching over Jack’s movements until they’ve safely left. Juliet doesn’t answer until they’re already in the air, Jack following the instructions to the coordinates Juliet entered in.

 

“ _I_ am not working out today, I’ll need to find something to do until you finish your basic training, but for today I’m getting advice on your morning workout routine.” Juliet explains, stretching out her legs to rest on the dashboard, the heels of her boots clicking on the surface.

 

Jack groans, “Unfair! Why do I have to suffer while you get to mess around!” he pouts dramatically at her, which she ignores. She makes a clicking noise at Manna, who fluffs out his feathers for a moment before compressing seamlessly, Juliet slips him into a pocket of her jacket once he’s a medal orb.

  

“You’ll get used to it, I’ll be doing the morning routine with you, so don’t whine.” She pulls out her sketchbook and the purple folder from the large work out bag she brought along, going quiet as she looks over the plans.

 

They fly in comfortable silence, Jack focusing in on where they’re flying; somewhere in northern America. Jack is still tired, but the coffee helps, and by the time he finishes it he’s fully awake, if little jittery, luckily Juliet doesn’t mind him bouncing his leg and tapping his fingers rhythmically on the steering wheel. They land in small clearing surrounded by trees, Juliet waits for him to finish checking the cloaking before leading him through the trees until they reach a dirt path, they follow that to a park full of joggers and walk to the bus stop just outside of the park.

 

“Why are we taking a bus?” Jack asks, watching the joggers as they pass.

 

“Well we had to park somewhere, and it’s not like we can just land on their ceiling.” Juliet shrugs, sitting on the bench, Jack joins her when she gestures him over. “I mean I could always drive us—”

 

“NO!” Jack screeches, getting a few weird looks from passersby. “You drive like a bat out of hell, especially on that motorcycle you love so much.” It’s not that Juliet is a bad driver, she follows all the rules and everything, she just likes to speed. “You may not fear death but I definitely don’t want to die in a fiery explosion!” Jack shudders in exaggerated fear.

 

“Fine, fine, no motorcycle. We’ll just use public transport like everyone else.” Juliet shrugs, grinning at Jack’s dramatics.

 

They wait patiently for the bus, Juliet shifting her bag to her lap to make room for the few people that join them, soon enough the bus pulls up. Juliet lets the other people go first, climbing on before Jack and paying the fee for both of them. There’s no seats open when they walk further into the packed bus, and very few hand holds, Jack lets Juliet take the nearest one and just kind of leans against the wall and hopes for the best. It seems to work fine for the first few stops, Jack sways dangerously but manages to stay upright. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work forever, the next stop the driver brakes hard, sending Jack flying forward into Juliet. Juliet scrambles to catch him before he falls to the ground, grabbing him around the waist with one arm and holding herself up with the handle. They end up with Jack in a low dip, Juliet holding him around the waist.

 

They stare at each other, Juliet fighting back laughter, before Jack speaks, “You know, somehow I think this is a metaphor for my entire life.” Juliet snorts, and dissolves into giggles as she pulls him back up into a standing position. She pulls herself together quickly, aware of the amused onlookers.

 

“Being caught by a beautiful woman on a bus is a metaphor for your life? Must be some life you’re living.” A male voice pipes up from the behind Juliet, Jack looks over her shoulder and spots a tall Chinese man around his age dressed in dark workout clothes giving them an amused look.

 

Juliet’s head snaps around to look at him and she grins. “Alec! I thought you rode this bus too!” Juliet greets him excitedly, she pulls Jack into a steadier position when the bus stops again.

 

“It’s good to see you again Juliet, I thought Marie told me you’d be coming by today.” Alec returns her grin with a smaller one of his own. He lets go of his handle and head to the front of the bus to get off, Juliet following him with Jack in tow.

 

Juliet waits until they’re off the bus to answer, “Yeah, I’ve brought you a new student. This is Jack, my best friend.” Juliet gestures to Jack, and Alec turns his attention on him.

 

“Ah so this is the famous Jack? Alec Huang, good to meet you Jack, Juliet talks about you all the time.” He gives Jack a friendly smile, holding out a hand for him to shake.

 

Jack can feel his face flushing, Juliet wasn’t kidding about him being pretty. “Uh, Jack Spicer, nice to meet you.” he shakes Alec’s hand, spotting Juliet smirking at him from the corner of his eye. Fuck, he does have a type.

 

Alec gives him a kind smile, they all chat on the short walk from the bus stop to a small, plain building, the sign names it Oasis. They walk inside, Alec waves to them as they stop at the front desk. “I’ll see you soon, Jack.” Jack stutters out an agreement and ignores the smug look on Juliet’s face, focusing on signing in. It turns out they have a good thirty minutes before the class starts at nine, Jack only glares a little at Juliet for his lost sleep. The receptionist, Marie, is a sweet older lady. She smiles at Jack kindly and gives a quick explanation of Oasis, gives him the room number he’ll be in and waves them away to go sit. Juliet doesn’t immediately start making fun of him for his obvious attraction to Alec, but instead gives him a more thorough explanation of Oasis.

 

“This is supposed to be a safe space, a place for people to learn self-defense or get away from bad situations. They try to keep this place on the downlow, wouldn’t want any abusive or angry significant others showing up and scaring everyone. They have plenty of different classes, and offer a daycare service for the kids while their moms or dads workout. I found this place on accident really, I was out shopping and saw a girl getting harassed, I got her away from the group of guys bothering her and she wanted to come here. Alec offered me a membership, and I figured it couldn’t hurt, after I finished Alec’s class I started the yoga class. It’s nice here, and I couldn’t think of a better place for you to learn then here.” Juliet smiles, waving at a couple of women that walk in. “It’s no Kung Fu master, but what do you think?”

 

Jack nods absently, looking around the room. The place certainly _feels_ safe, everyone seems relaxed and happy to be there. Groups of people dot the room, talking animatedly, sharing jokes and small talk. The room lets out to a long hallway, doors dot the walls, Jack can see the edge of workout equipment where the hallway opens to another room. Jack feels a little out of place, a dark splotch in an otherwise bright room, but no one even looks at him twice. Sitting next to Juliet, who clearly knows several people here by the various greeting she receives, gives him an in that no one questions. He ends up shrugging, unsure how to express his feelings.

 

“I know it’s not really your scene, but it’s a good place, if you decide you don’t like it we can always find somewhere else. Try to give it a week or so, this place grows on you.” She reasons, glancing at the clock before ushering Jack up and leading him down the hall.

 

They weave around the workout equipment to a staircase that Jack couldn’t see from the front, Juliet leads him upstairs and knocks on the last door in the hallway. Alec’s voice calls for them to enter, and Juliet smirks at him before opening the door. She shoves him through the door first, luckily, he only stumbles over the thick mat on the floor and doesn’t fall flat on his face. Alec smiles at the both from where he’s setting up equipment, giving them a wave before going back to work. Juliet turns to Jack and rifles through her bag, pulling out her sketchbook and the purple folder. She hands the bag to Jack after tucking the two under her arm, grabbing a large reusable water bottle from the outside pocket and exiting the room. Jack stands awkwardly, shifting from foot to foot on the plush ground, he sets the bag against a wall and looks through it. There’s several towels, a set of regular clothes to change into afterwards, a cloth bag filled with toiletries, and a small first aid kit. Jack pulls out one of the towels and zips up the bag, folding the towel neatly on top of the bag and standing back up.

 

Juliet walks back into the room, wobbling unsteadily on the plush floor, she pushes the bottle into his hands, now filled with cold water. “Okay Jackie, I’ll see you at noon. You’ll get a break at the halfway point but you should use that for water and getting your breath back.” She instructs, turning and wobbling over to the door. “Take care of my boy Alec, I’ll be downstairs.” She calls from the door, giving Alec a stern look.

 

Alec holds up his hands, grinning at Juliet’s threat. “I promise, he’ll be just fine with me.” Juliet nods sharply, her serious look dropping as she grins at them. She waggles her eyebrows at Jack when Alec turns away, and he can still hear her giggles at the rude gesture he shot her when she shuts the door.

 

 “Alright Jack, welcome to your first day of self-defense. I’m not sure what Juliet has told you, but this is a relatively short class, it’s mandatory for all our students so we try to finish it up as quickly as possible for everyone to move on the more complex courses. Usually we do this in two long days over the weekend, but Juliet wants you to get into the habit of classes three times a week so we’re doing it this way. By next Friday you should be finished with the basics and you can move on to one of my other defense classes, I’ll leave which class you pick up to you and Juliet. Any questions?” Alec explains easily, gesturing for Jack to meet him in the middle of the mat.

 

Jack shuffles over, wiping his sweaty palms on his cloth pants. “Uh, I’m not sure. What all will we be doing?” He feels incredibly awkward, unsure how to act around this new person.

 

Alec smiles at him warmly, putting a hand on Jack’s shoulder and squeezing comfortingly. “You don’t need to be nervous Jack, everyone starts somewhere, we’re going to be working at your pace since this is one on one. For today we’re going to talk several things through, and work on full force hitting, we’ll see where we go from there. I know Juliet is working on a program for you to follow, and once she’s worked that out I’ll be looking it over so I know how you’re progressing.” Alec leans forward to lock eyes with Jack, his eyes are a really nice dark brown. “Listen Jack, Juliet has been bragging about you for years, if she believes you can do this, then so do I. So don’t worry so much.” He gives Jack a kind smile, Jack feels his cheeks flushing when he nods. He still has a nervous fluttering feeling in his stomach, but the easy smile Alec gives him lessens it a bit.

 

Soon after they get to work.

 

Alec is patient as he goes over the guidelines of the class, his voice soothing and warm. They spend a good hour talking, Alec going over the various forms of defense they’ll be learning and giving Jack a basic rundown of what they’re doing today. Soon enough Alec has a large mat strapped to his arm, and instructs Jack to hit him, Jack gives an admittedly weak punch, but Alec only smiles. He explains that Jack is subconsciously pulling his punches and gives him clam instructions on how to fix it. Jack hasn’t quite got it by the time they take a break, but Alec doesn’t seem worried, ruffling his sweaty hair playfully while he chugs down water. Jack only flushes a little this time.

 

The next hour is spent similarly, Jack figuring it out soon enough and moving on to different types of hits. Jack is exhausted by the time the hour is up, drinking down water quickly. Alec takes pity on him and allows a small break, showing him the proper way to stretch out once he’s caught his breath. His first day ends with noodle legs and the knowledge that he’s going to be sore in the morning. Alec follows him down the stairs, leading him to the front where Juliet waits, chatting casually with Marie with two Starbucks cups in on the counter in front of her.

 

Juliet grins when she spots him, sharing a look with Alec when he walks behind the desk. “How was the first day?” Juliet asks them both, pushing the purple folder over to Alec for him to look through. Jack just groans, leaning heavily into her side and eyeing the cups in front of her.

 

“Is that a pumpkin spice latte?” Jack raises an eyebrow at her, judging her silently. Juliet rolls her eyes, pushing the second cup towards him.

 

“I got you one too.” Juliet grins, ignoring him completely to watch Alec adjust her plans.

 

“Fuck yeah! you’re my favorite.” Jack grabs his cup, cradling it to his chest protectively. Marie laughs at him, and he flashes her a grin before taking a long drink. He wanders over to a bench on the opposite wall, dragging his bag along on the floor. He collapses dramatically onto the bench, stretching his legs out to take up the whole bench. He doesn’t have to wait long, Juliet flounces over to join him, not hesitating to sit on his legs. Jack only whines a little, shutting up quickly when she starts to speak.

 

“So, Alec has approved the exercise plan, and we’ll start it tomorrow before we head back up here. We’ll be doing yoga by the way, and I want no complaining cause I’m downgrading to the beginner classes to do it with you.” Jack just lets out a whiney noise of complaint but lets it go soon enough. “Good, are you hungry or do you want to go home?” she gets off his legs and waits for him to get up.

 

Jack sighs, considering the effort of standing before sitting up. “I mean, I am hungry, but I also smell.” Jack whines, stretching his arms over his head.

 

“There’s showers here, and I packed some clothes for you to wear.” she points out, Jack hates it when she’s reasonable.

 

“Ugh, fine, I’ll go shower I guess.” he wobbles when he stands, and Juliet steady’s him quickly. She points him to the locker rooms in the back and he begrudgingly goes to get ready.

 

Once he’s clean and dressed, Jack wanders back to the front, his hair still damp and unstyled but otherwise clean. He joins Juliet at the front desk, they wave to Marie as they leave, stepping out into the cool air. Juliet leads them to a small pizza shop, and they’re soon sitting across from each other, waiting for their food. “Everything hurts.” Jack groans, head resting on the cool surface of the table.

 

“Just wait until tomorrow morning, that’s going to suck. Other than being tired, how was your first day?” She asks, fiddling with her napkin.

 

“Don’t remind me, you’re going to get me up even earlier and I’ll get no sympathy for my pain.” Jack whines, looking up and resting his chin on the table. “It was okay? I was pretty nervous but it turned out alright.”

 

Juliet smirks, Jacks senses danger. “And Alec? How was he?”

 

Jack glares at her, sitting up to cross his arms over his chest. “You know exactly how Alec was Jewels, a little warning would have been nice!” he complains, glaring harder as her smirk widens.

 

“I told you he was pretty.”

 

“Pretty is one thing, _Chase Young’s nice twin_ is something totally different!” he half shrieks, Juliet laughs at him.

 

“Oh man, I knew you had a type with guys!” Juliet laughs, ignoring his glare.

 

“Jewels! This is serious! How and I supposed to train with this guy! He’s majorly distracting!” Jack gestures wildly, almost hitting a waiter as he passes their table. He’s busy apologizing frantically while Juliet pulls herself together. The waiter walks off after assuring Jack it’s alright, and Jack turns back to Juliet who now looks thoughtful.

 

“Jack, if Alec is too distracting, then what would you do if Chase actually _did_ offer to train you?” she asks after a moment, Jack freezes, eyes widening in shock.

 

“Oh shit, you’re right.” Jack goes quiet, thinking deeply, he stays that way until their pizza shows up.

 

“Honestly Jack, you’re being too dramatic. You’ll get used to Alec eventually, just like you’d hopefully get used to Chase.” Juliet piles pizza onto her plate, immediately taking a bite. Jack knows better than to do the same, he’s burnt his mouth too many times following her example. “You should ask Alec out actually, it’d be good experience.”

 

Jack gaps at her, “Jewels! I mean yeah he’s cute, but what if he’s not into guys?” Jack reasons, Juliet rolls her eyes, chewing her bite and swallowing before she speaks.

 

“Oh, don’t worry about that, he’s Bi like you, and definitely interested.” Jack flushes, face going totally red.

 

“Jewels!”

 

“You don’t have to or anything, but you can’t just wait around pining for Chase your entire life. Alec is nice, and pretty and I know he’d treat you well.” She shrugs, eating more pizza. Jack takes a cautious bite from his and finds it cooled enough, they eat in silence for a few minutes. “Just see how things go, sure he looks like Chase, but he definitely doesn’t act like him. If you like him you might as well go for it.” Juliet suggests when she finishes her first slice.

 

Jack nods, chewing slowly. “Maybe.” he allows, they eat the rest of their meal in silence. Paying the check and heading back towards the bus stop. “Do you really think he’s interested?” Jack asks finally, they’re along at the bus stop, crammed close together on the bench.

 

Juliet nods, “I think so, he’s really smiley when he thinks someone is cute, and he smiled at you a lot. He was also asking about you while you were in the shower, and it wasn’t strictly exercise related stuff either.” Jack goes quiet again when the bus pulls up, following Juliet onto the bus.

 

 They manage to find seats this time, though they’re crammed between strangers. The ride back to the park takes longer, and it’s uncomfortable the whole way, when they reach their stop Jack just about runs off the bus to get away from the other people. “So, we’re driving next time?” Juliet suggests, leading them through the park and down the dirt path.

 

“Okay fine, but try to follow the speed limit this time, please?” Jack begs, shoving branches out of his face.

 

Juliet laughs when they reach the clearing, turning around so he can see her roll her eyes. “Fine, fine, you big baby.” They bicker lightheartedly about Juliet’s driving habits all the way home.

 

* * *

 

 

The next day passes in a blur of sore muscles and exhaustion. As expected, Juliet wakes him up before the sun rises to workout, ripping the blankets off him and hustling him into workout clothes, he’s outside before he can even think to complain. Juliet’s exercise routine is hell, he’s covered in sweat and aching all over by the time the sun rises. Juliet says this is easy mode, she’ll be expecting more from him once he gets used to this, Jack screams in frustration. After a jog around the back yard, lunges, jumping jacks, pushups, sit ups, and a failed attempt at pull ups on a doorway, Jack is exhausted. Juliet drags him back upstairs to shower, she instructs him to change into another workout outfit before disappearing back down the stairs. Jack regrets his life choices.

 

Juliet gives him little time to complain; rushing them through a healthy breakfast, thankfully cooked by the Bots this time, and speeding off to the jet with Manna fluttering behind her. Jack barely has time to wonder how the motorcycle got into the jet before they’re off. Juliet sets Manna to his travel mode with a click and proceeds to bounce around the cabin of the plane with far too much energy for so early in the morning. She makes him help move the motorcycle out of the jet, which sucks, it’s even worse when she climbs on and passes him a helmet with a dangerous look in her eye. He’s going to die

 

Surprisingly they make it to Oasis without crashing, Juliet adhering to the traffic laws, well mostly. His throat is raw from screaming, but at least he’s awake. Jack stumbles inside behind her, apparently looking just as harassed as he feels from the amused look Marie gives him as he signs in. Juliet leads him to the first door in the hallway, opening the door to a large room filled with mostly women. Juliet smiles and waves at a few of them, leading Jack towards the front of the room and pulling out two mats from her bag. Jack sticks to her side as she sets them up, wary of these new people. He’s allowed his space, though several people shoot him curious glances, until a woman around their age spots Juliet and walks over.

 

“Juliet! It’s been a while!” the woman grins, stopping in front of Juliet and throwing her arms around her in a hug once she’s standing, “What are you doing in the beginner’s class?” she asks, though it’s clear she has some idea as she glances at Jack curiously.

 

“I’m here for moral support mostly, gotta show this one the ropes.” Juliet throws an arm over Jack’s shoulders, pulling him close to press against her side, “This is Jack, Jack meet Vivian, she’s one of the instructors for the beginner’s yoga classes.”

 

Vivian’s eyes go wide in surprise before she grins, Jack hears a few murmurs from around him from other people who have over heard them, “Oh wow, so this is Jack! You’re kind of a celebrity around here, the mythical best friend.” Vivian winks at him, Jack feels his cheeks flush with embarrassment.

 

“Uh, Hi, Jack Spicer, it's uh, good to meet you, uh Vivian.” Jack stutters out, unsure how to act. Juliet squeezes his shoulder reassuringly before she removes her arm from around him.

 

“Just Viv is fine sugar, no one calls me Vivian except Juliet here.” Vivian winks at Juliet, smiling adoringly.

 

Oh.

 

Juliet has had her string of admirers over the years, and while she’s been taken for the better part of the last three years, the admirers haven’t stopped. Jack takes a closer look at Vivian; she’s pretty; tall, with short blonde hair and wide green eyes against lightly tanned skin. She gives off a vibe of confidence, a self-assuredness that feels only vaguely familiar to Juliet’s aura of confidence, it could work. She’s not exactly Juliet’s usual type, but then again neither was Jasmine, who was cool headed and serious at the best of times but haughty and snobbish at the worst. Jack feels a pang in his chest for Vivian’s sake, she seems so pleased to see Juliet again. He knows Juliet is still reeling from her breakup, that any romantic overtures will just drag up bad memories, the sudden pained look crossing her face confirms his suspicions.

 

Vivian notices Juliet sudden change in mood and quickly changes the subject to setting up for the class before leaving them be, Jack catches her sending Juliet’s back several worried and confused looks. Juliet returns to her set up of their space, and Jack stands awkwardly at her side until the class begins.

 

Yoga is predictably kind of terrible. it’s less movement than the torture of this morning, but he’s expected to bend in ways he’s not used to and he falls at least five times. Juliet is, of course, great at it. Jack reasons that she is dropping from advanced to beginner to take this with him, but seeing her do everything Vivian does with ease is still incredibly frustrating. She only falls once, and it’s only because Vivian comes over to help Jack fix his stance and Juliet gets too distracted flirting obnoxiously to pay attention to where her hands are. The plus side of this is both the vengeful laugh Jack gets at her expense and that the nearly unnoticeable tension in Vivian’s shoulders lessens, apparently the flirting is a normal thing for them. This class is shorter than his training with Alec, and they’re done in less than two hours. Juliet leaves him at his mat to whine about his pain while she helps others clean up.

 

Vivian wanders over to him soon after Juliet’s out of earshot, “How was your first day Red?” she looks too amused by his pain, Jack just groans tiredly, at least it makes her laugh, “Sorry to crowd you like this, but I wanted to ask you if Juliet is okay. She disappears for two and a half weeks and when she comes back,” Vivian sighs, “well, she’s sad isn’t she?” Vivian looks worried, chewing on her lower lip and glancing frequently over her shoulder to make sure Juliet can’t hear them.

 

“Her and Jasmine broke up.” Jack whispers so no one else can overhear, “She’s pretty beat up about it.” Jack continues, sitting up slowly and turning to face Vivian fully.

 

Vivian’s face crumples and she looks genuinely upset, “Oh damn it, and I just made it worse with the flirting. I didn’t even think, it’s what we’ve always done you know? It’s never been serious, we always used to flirt the most in front of Jasmine, it was just a way to try and get her to stop being so serious, and here I’ve gone and reminded her of her ex.” Vivian groans, covering her face with her hands.

 

“It’s not like you meant to remind her of it or anything, you didn’t know,” Jack tries to soothe her worries, “besides, she didn’t seem too upset during the class, you saw that face plant.” Jack smirks, “So it can’t be too bad, right?”

 

Vivian nods, face still covered by her hands, “I guess,” she sighs, peaking through her fingers at him before starting again, “You’d be the expert though, right? Juliet says you’ve been friends since you were little.”

 

Jack shrugs, flushing with embarrassment, “As much as anyone can be an expert on Juliet, the girl’s a walking conundrum.” they share an amused smile, Vivian lowers her hands and looks less worried, “Hey uh, I was going to ask—”

 

“Do I have a crush on Juliet? Yeah.” Vivian interrupts, waving off the apology he starts to give, “It’s no big deal, she’s been taken the whole time I’ve worked here, she was real nice about it when I told her.”

 

“You _told_ her!?”

 

Vivian gives him a weird look, “Yeah, of course I told her. What do you do when you like someone?”

 

“I die? What kind of question is that?” Jack answers, genuinely confused. Vivian stares at him like he’s an idiot for a long moment before laughing in his face, Jack isn’t even offended, he just lets her get out of her system before speaking again, “you done?”

 

Vivian nods, wiping the tears of mirth away, “Juliet was right, I do like you.” she giggles out, “and yes, I did tell her, she of course already knew and said that while she enjoyed my company she was happy with her current girlfriend.” she shrugs, “I mean, yeah I was disappointed and all that, but she’s my friend so I put on my big girl pants and continued as we were. The flirting is just how we are, though I guess it just reminded her of Jasmine today.” she explains.

 

“That’s some bravery Viv,” Jack shakes his head in disbelief, “I would actually die if that happened to me.”

 

“If what happened?” Juliet asks, wandering back over to them, “I heard laughter, what has Jack done?” Juliet kneels next to Jack on his mat, ignoring his squawk of protest.

 

Vivian grins at her, “Juliet, I love him.”

 

Juliet nods seriously, “You have good tastes, but you’ll have to physically fight me for him.” Juliet smirks, winking at Vivian and bumping shoulders with Jack.

 

Vivian laughs, “Rats, sorry Jack, your honor stays intact for today.” Vivian sighs dramatically, standing up and stretching, “and with that lovelies, I must be off, I’ve got another class to run so shoo.” Vivian waves them off, walking away to her own bags.

 

They wave goodbye and Juliet makes Jack help pack up before they leave the room. She lets him complain all the way to the motorcycle, assuring him that it will get easier, that he’s only been doing this for two days and that his body need to adjust once he’s quieted down. It helps, but only a little, it’s hard to really believe her when his entire body still aches.

 

The drive back to the jet is much smoother than this morning, Juliet doing her best not to jostle him around too much. She still makes him help her move the motorcycle back into the cabin, and pointedly ignores his cursing and complaints, but she lets him set the plane on autopilot and cards her fingers through his sweaty hair without complaint when he wiggles his way into the back and rests his head in her lap.

 

Juliet redeems herself further in his eyes when they get home, breaking out her stash of bath bombs and filling up the massive bathtub in the unused master bedroom for him to use. Jack wanders in just as she drops one in, it turns the water totally black, multicolored glitter swirls in the dark water and the smell of blackberries fills the room. She orders him to soak for as long as he wants, the hot water helps immensely, soothing his aches and lightening his mood. Jack doesn’t hate everything quite as much afterwards.

 

* * *

 

 

The next few days follow that routine, working out with Juliet, breakfast, class with Alec or Vivian, then home for a long soak and whatever else he wants to do. Jack still struggles with the routine, but by the time the weekend begins he’s a little more used to it.

 

This is of course when the pattern changes, Juliet lets him sleep in until nine, though he still wakes up before the sun, barging in and waking him out of a light doze when the Bots have finished making breakfast. They eat together at a lazier pace than usual and then go for a run, this run is much longer than usual, they weave through the gardens in the back and front yard in a seemingly random pattern. Jack realizes mid-way through that he’s stopped thinking, he’s only focused on keeping pace and breathing correctly, it makes the run go much faster, and he’s almost sorry to stop when Juliet decides that’s enough for the day, almost.

 

The rest of the day is spent lazily, Jack repairs some of the Bots the monks destroyed for a few hours before giving up and going to find Juliet. He wanders the house for a while before finding her in her room, she’s perched on a white padded chair in front of the large vanity tucked into the corner of her room, wrapped up in a fluffy white towel and carefully applying makeup. Manna ruffles his feathers and hoots at him as he approaches, Juliet pauses to smile at him in the mirror for a moment before returning her attention to the eyeliner in her hand.

 

“why are you getting all dolled up?” Jack asks as he takes a seat on her bed, totally uncaring that she's only in a towel.

 

Juliet makes a noncommittal sound, making a steady line on her eyelid with the brush, “I decided to put effort in today, might as well since we have the time,” She sets the brush down and leans forward to check her work, making a pleased noise and turning towards him, “what are you doing?”

 

He shrugs, stretching and making grabby hands at Manna, “I fixed up some Bots, I'm mostly done but I got bored.” he gives up when Manna just stares at him, Juliet huffing with amusement before turning back around. She leaves him to do whatever while she digs around in her makeup bag. He toes off his boots and lays down on his side, facing Juliet to watch her as she continues, “I’m just gonna sleep here if that’s cool with you.” he says, pulling a pillow over and covering himself with one of the many comforters. Juliet makes an agreeing sound, too focused on perfectly applying lip gloss to care. Manna flies over and circles around him for a while before landing on his head, Jack allows it, the quiet whirring of his machinery lulling him to sleep. 

 

Juliet wakes him a few hours later, tickling his face with one of Manna’s feathers. She forces him to eat a sandwich when he snorts awake, making several trips to and from the art room while he eats. She then heads to the living room to paint, Jack watches her paint the outline of a large tree in the only blank space of the wall for a while before getting bored and leaving her to it.

 

Jack wanders the house listlessly, he’s twitching with too much energy, but has no motivation to do anything. He gives up after a while and wanders back into the lab, tinkering with the JackBots for something to do. He wastes a few hours on mindlessly upgrading and repairing, he finishes the last of the Bots the monks destroyed when he registers the strange lack of noise upstairs.

 

Jack cautiously exits the lab, looking around the foyer warily and trying to hear Juliet in some way to figure out if everything is alright. It’s quiet, there’s no clinking of paintbrushes being washed, no humming or rustle of feathers can be heard, even the whirring of JackBots is missing. It’s like everything as frozen. Jack’s boots are too loud against the tile of the foyer, but he ignores that to get to the living room, Juliet should still be there and if she’s not he’ll panic then. Jack freezes when he reaches the doorway, the two people inside the room just as still as he is.

 

He probably should have panicked before.

 

Wuya stands in the center of the room, head tilted curiously and staring intently at a wary Juliet.

 

Fuck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This isn't beta'd so let me know if you see any mistakes!
> 
> I'm going to try and post a new chapter every two weeks, I'm going for the 1st and 15th of each month!
> 
> Edit 05/17/2017: Some grammar fixes. Also, that bus scene is based on an thing that actually happened to me at my college orientation. long story short I caught a cute girl when she fell and dipped her like in this. it was great.


	5. Witches, Dragons Lords, and Fairies, Oh my!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I'm really sorry for how long this one took, life got in the way big time, but on the plus side this is a pretty long chapter! (Like 10,000 words? 24 pages total)
> 
> I figured I'd go ahead and link my Tumblr [Here](http://peachpandabear.tumblr.com/) fill free to send me a message if you'd like to chat!
> 
> Oh also, I'm putting up some new art on chapter 1, so go look at that if you'd like it's by the lovely [sabertoothwalrus](http://sabertoothwalrus.tumblr.com/) and the art itself is [Here](http://sabertoothwalrus.tumblr.com/post/162015099347/commission-for-peachpandabear)

Neither woman reacts to his presence, they stay frozen in place, watching each other warily. Jack hesitates in the doorway, gaze darting between the two of them nervously, he watches them watch each other, anxiety raising with every second that passes. He’s been dreading this meeting since he was thirteen.

 

Juliet moves first, setting her paintbrush down on the stool next to her with a soft click. She turns to face Wuya fully, expression cool and bored as she regards the witch in front of her, “Wuya, I presume?” Jack feels himself shudder at the tone of her voice, it’s polite enough, but holds a cold indifference that Jack has rarely heard from his friend. She strides over towards the couches, her bare feet making no noise on the wooden floors, and stands next to the closest one to him, “I’ve heard quite a bit about you.” she continues, perching casually on the arm of the couch, she gestures for him to come over to her with the hand Wuya can’t see.

 

“Yes,” Wuya answers, barely sparing Jack a glance as he shuffles over to stand next to Juliet, “though, I haven’t heard anything about _you_.” Wuya eyes Juliet with open disdain, lingering on the splatters of paint on her hands and the small apron around her waist. Jack eyes Juliet, hopping she’s either overlooked or somehow missed Wuya’s veiled insult, and spots the twitch of the corner of her lips and the flash of amusement in her eyes.

 

“Well, yeah, that was kind of the point, right Jackie?” She huffs, crossing her legs primly and looking unconcerned. Her shoulder bumps his side a bit, and when he looks down at her he can see the slight mischief and amusement in her eyes as she watches Wuya. Wuya looks thrown off by the sudden change in tone, eyes narrowing suspiciously at Juliet, who looks totally unconcerned by Wuya’s presence.

 

Jack huffs, “Jewels, please stop antagonizing the Heylin witch,” he pleads, running his hand through his hair. He can feel Juliet shake with stifled laughter from where she’s leaned against him, but on the outside, she smiles up at him innocently. Wuya’s attention turns to him now, and he tenses instinctively, Juliet leans more heavily into his side, “What do you want Wuya?” He asks, more annoyed than nervous with Juliet leaning heavily against him.

 

“Oh, come now Jack, that can wait, why don’t you introduce me to your little friend? Jewels, is it?” Wuya’s mood seems to have shifted to match the unconcerned casualness Juliet is radiating, her sudden amiability sets off alarm bells in the back of Jack’s mind, she definitely wants something.

 

“Juliet, just Juliet,” Juliet answers immediately, fiddling with something in her pocket, “Nicknames are strictly, well, for people I actually like.” she smiles sweetly, pulling a small tube of paint out of her apron and scraping at some dried paint on its side with her nail absently.

 

Wuya’s eye twitches in irritation for a moment before her expression smoothed, and she looks unaffected by the small jab. She looks at Juliet intently for a long moment, before making a considering sound, and moving to sit on the couch across of them, “Your face looks familiar, girl.” She says eventually, glancing up at Jack for a second before returning her gaze to Juliet.

 

“Jack and I have known each other for, what, seventeen years?” Juliet glances up at Jack, waiting for his nod of agreement before she continues, “You’ve probably seen pictures of me in his room, that’s the only place he’d keep them to try and keep me secret from all this.” She gestures vaguely, and Jack allows himself a brief flash of annoyance with the realization that Wuya went through his room at some point to snoop while he was working, locked doors don’t help much with ghosts apparently.

 

“That’s ridiculous, as if Jack could hide someone from me,” She scoffs, “We’ve been… partners on and off over the last ten years, there is no way _he_ could hide someone from me for that long!” she insists, her blatant disregard for his capabilities clear.

 

Jack feels Juliet shift next to him, her shoulder pressing into his ribs for a second before she pulls away and stands up. She chuckles, shaking her head as she turns away from Wuya, she walks back over to her corner and picks up her brush, “Strange, isn’t it? What you miss when you think you know all there is to know.” she muses, falling silent and turning her attention cleaning the brushes.

 

Wuya watches her back intently, but allows the silence to continue, she’s carefully unmoved by the brush off for a moment before freezing. Her expression shifts from careful blankness into deep contemplation, and after a long moment her gaze snaps over to Jack, eyes bright with sudden anger, “If you put even half of the effort you put in hiding your little friend into winning Shen Gong Wu, the Heylin side could have already won!” she exclaims, “But instead you’ve wasted all this time hiding a _girl_ from everyone and indulging in this nonsense,” she gestures at the walls, throwing a disgusted look at the detailed flowers and trees lining the walls, “instead of doing something actually useful, you’ve continued to be a waste of space and used resources and time for foolish things!”

 

Jack allows Wuya to yell at him, only half listening to her words, and tries to ignore the bubble of anger that grows larger the longer she speaks. The insults towards him, he’s used to, they’re a regular occurrence with Wuya and almost all the other Heylin he’s interacted with, but her tone when she mentions Juliet fuels his anger quickly. She talks like Juliet means nothing, like her very presence is a nuisance, like she’s lesser. Her opinion of him is irrelevant, but for her to speak about his friend that way fuels his anger more than anything she could ever say to him. “Shut up Hag,” he snaps, shocking Wuya into silence for a moment, he continues before she can start again, “You don’t get to talk about her like that, I don’t give a shit what you say about me but leave Juliet out of this.” his voice is low and more dangerous than he’s ever heard himself, he feels himself shaking, and his anger flares again when he sees Wuya’s expression change from angry to placating, of course, she still wants something.

 

“Now Jack—” She starts, voice dripping with false sweetness. Jack opens his mouth to interrupt her when he hears another voice.

 

“Jack?” Juliet calls from outside the room, Jack blinks as he registers her voice, glancing over to the corner to find it clear of the art supplies that were once scattered around, he didn’t even hear her leave. He shoots a glare at Wuya before turning and following her voice. Juliet is in the foyer, leaning over the railing on the second floor to peer down at him, she’s holding something behind her back with one hand, the other resting against the railing to steady her, he can see a black strap of something over her shoulder. She smiles when she spots him, and waits until he’s just under her to speak, “I think I left my sketchbook in the kitchen, could you grab it and toss it up to me?”

 

Jack blinks, his anger calmed considerably, and nods before turning to get it. As he enters the kitchen he hears Wuya walk over to where he was standing before, he hears the muffled sound of her voice saying something to Juliet. It’s quiet. Suddenly there’s a loud splattering sound, followed quickly by Wuya’s outraged yelling and the clatter of metal hitting the floor, Jack abandons his search and peeks around the doorway to see what just happened.

 

He spots Wuya first, she’s absolutely fuming, and completely covered in pink paint. There’s a puddle of the soft, rosy pink paint splattered on the floor under the furious Heylin witch, her once carefully put together self now utterly ruined by the paint covering her completely, the paint can rolls to a stop at his feet. He’s two seconds from bursting into laughter, when he’s distracted by a loud, snorting laugh that rings out through the room. Juliet is grinning widely, thoroughly pleased with herself as she watches the fuming witch.

 

“You insolent little cretin!” Wuya shrieks, “How dare you disrespect me this way! I’ll burn you to a crisp!”

 

“Aw, Doll face, you say the sweetest things.” Juliet coos, grinning brightly. Wuya yells in rage again, sliding in the pool of paint for a few, hilarious, moments before sprinting up the stairs to attack Juliet.

 

Juliet looks utterly unconcerned as she gets closer, and when Wuya is within a few feet of her she vaults over the railing and _free falls to the floor_. Jack doesn’t have time to freak out much, but she luckily sticks the landing, bending her knees to absorb the impact and not falling on her ass afterwards. She ignores the splatter of paint covering her legs and bare feet, only slipping for a second before darting forward to grab his wrist and drag him along behind her as she sprints towards the backdoor, he sees his Heli-pack strapped to her back. Wuya yells in outrage behind them, and Juliet giggles like a little kid as they burst through the backdoor. She doesn’t stop running when they reach the grass, pulling him slightly ahead of her as she hits the button on his Heli-pack, it activates immediately, and pulls Juliet into the air, she tugs hard on his arm and hugs him close as they rise quickly, Wuya’s yells fading into the distance.

 

* * *

 

 

It’s several minutes later that Jack remembers how to speak, the adrenaline and absolute idiocy of what they just experienced shocking him into silence. Juliet is still hugging him close, even though he’s strapped into the Heli-pack now, the extra stability helps soothe the foreign feeling of being in the Heli-pack but not flying it.

 

“I cannot believe you just did that,” he groans into her shoulder, flinging his arms around her neck and slumping into her as what just happened finally sets in, he shivers in the cool air, already regretting his missing jacket.

 

Juliet shrugs, allowing the contact without commenting, “She was insulting my boy, I had to do something.” she says simply, like it’s obvious.

 

“That’s sweet and all but you just dropped paint on a Heylin witch, like, you understand she’s going to murder both of us right?” something hoots from one of the pockets of the apron Juliet is still wearing, and Manna pops his head out to stare at them accusingly, “Hey buddy, sorry your favorite idiots death wish woke you from your nap.” he sighs, rubbing at his forehead to ease the headache pulsing behind his eyes, and moves to help Manna out of the pocket, Manna takes to the air once he’s free, circling them from high above the blades of the Heli-pack.

 

“It’ll be fine, something tells me she could use a bit of humility. I mean yeah, she’s super hot, but personality wise? Needs some work.” Juliet shrugs, leaning to the side to turn them another way.

 

“Oh my god, please don’t be attracted to that hag! Please if you love me you have to promise not to flirt with her.” Jack begs, leaning back to make eye contact, he sees the amused but considering look on her face and panics, “Jewels no!”

 

“Jewels yes!” she laughs, “How am I supposed to _not_ flirt with her now, you basically gave me every reason _to_ flirt with her,” she laughs again when he makes a whiney noise in the back of his throat, “You’ll live.”

 

“Nope, I’ll die. I will actually die if you flirt with Wuya Jewels!” She laughs at him, ignoring his begging until he falls silent.

 

They fly for several more minutes in silence, Juliet steering aimlessly, Jack watches Manna fly above them for a while, circling them neatly while changing between forms at random. He’s a Raven when Juliet speaks again, following her as she slowly descends into a forested area, “I need a break, this flying thing is cool and all but by shoulders hurt.” Jack makes an agreeing sound and soon they’re back on solid ground.

 

“These trees look familiar.” Jack mutters, looking around the small clearing they landed in, Juliet looks up from tightening the straps around her and makes a surprised sound.

 

“These are the trees I painted all over the house!” she says, walking over to one of them and looking it over, “Weird, these are almost exactly like the ones I painted,” She continues, looking over the tree intently. Jack leaves her to her examination and whistles Manna over, he’s checking Manna feathers idly for damage when Juliet’s head whips around to stare at something just past his shoulder. She stares into the forest behind him for a long moment, head tilting sharply to the right unconsciously as she listens for whatever caught her attention. It’s a strange habit, something he’s only seen Juliet do a couple times in the years they’ve know each other, it reminds him of a bird, or one of those raptors from Jurassic Park.

 

Eventually Juliet straightens, posture loose and unconcerned, and gestures for Jack to follow her. They weave through the trees, Manna trailing close behind them, and Jack can make out voices getting louder and louder the longer they walk. Juliet slows when they reach the edge of another clearing, peering through the branches cautiously before grinning and stepping in.

 

The monks stand in a loose circle around a small sized Dojo, and look over quickly when Juliet walks through the trees. Kimiko grins and waves them over, and Jack trails behind her as she joins the others, he’s far enough behind her to spot the slight stumble in Juliet’s stride when she puts weight on her right foot. He quickens his pace to try and reach Juliet, sensing the inevitable fall, but doesn’t quite reach her before she steps over a large stone and her ankle buckles under her weight, sending her flailing into Clay’s chest.

 

Jack jogs over to the groups as Clay helps steady Juliet, only picking up the last bit of what he says, “—ful now, wouldn’t want you to fall again.” he drawls, steadying her as she balances on her left leg, Jack helps lower her to sit on the ground before searching his pockets. Manna caws frantically above them, circling their heads and trying to find a place to land. He finds the small first aid kit he carries around, searching through it while Clay checks Juliet’s ankle, “Yep, I reckon that there’s a sprained ankle,” he continues, easing her foot back to the ground, “What could you have been doin’ ta hurt yourself like this?” he asks, eyeing the paint covering her legs questioningly.

 

“Jumping off the second floor railing trying to look cool,” Jack grumbles, nudging Clay to the side and wrapping her ankle tightly, “You just had to push it, didn’t you? Dumping paint on a Heylin witch just wasn’t enough, you had to try to do a cool stunt too!” he chides, only half registering the surprised looks the monks share when Manna swoops down to land on Juliet’s head.

 

“Wait, wait, wait, _you_ threw paint on Wuya?” Raimundo looks kind of impressed, and high fives Juliet when she nods.

 

“Yeah, this lovely shade you see here,” she laughs, lifting her left leg to show off the dried pink paint, “I landed in the puddle when she came up after me and slipped, we had to make a quick exit so I didn’t even notice I hecked up my ankle until we landed.” the last half of the sentence is directed towards Jack, sounding only vaguely apologetic. She shifts to hold Manna in her arms, and whistles the command to go into upgrade mode, Manna hesitates, and nips at her chin before shifting into his ball form.

 

“So, you’re telling me, that right now as we speak, Wuya is covered in dried pink paint like this?” Kimiko looks delighted, helping Juliet stand back up with a wicked grin.

 

“I mean, maybe? She’s probably already washed it off, we didn’t exactly stick around to check.” Juliet shrugs, slipping Manna into her pocket, she gingerly puts weight on her ankle, pointedly ignoring Jack’s complaints about not straining herself even as she winces in pain.

 

Kimiko laughs, standing close to Juliet to catch her in case she stumbles, “Seriously, do you have a death wish? You’re probably going to be murdered when she finds you.”

 

Juliet shrugs, “Worth it.”

 

“Uh, NOT worth it!” Jack exclaims, “I mean really what were you thinking!? She’s a Heylin witch, do you realize how much magic she has? There’s so many ways she could kill you!” Jack continues, gesturing wildly at her other side, “Side note, you really shouldn’t be on your foot like this, it’s just going to get worse!” Jack complains, sticking close to her side to help if needed.

 

“She was rude to my boy! I don’t exactly deal with that well,” She shrugs again, missing the monks wince, “and, in case you haven’t noticed, we’re in the middle of the forest. Walking is kind of necessary to getting home, Heli-Pack or no, we can’t exactly tear through the trees,” she rolls her eyes as he grumbles, waiting for him to begrudgingly agree before turning to Kimiko, “So, what are you guys doing here anyway? Isn’t this kind of in the middle of nowhere?”

 

Kimiko’s amused expression shifts into confusion, “There’s a Wu around here, I figured that’s what you two were here for.”

 

Jack looks down at his wrist, only now registering the strange, naked feeling of it past the naked feeling of being without his jacket, the watch he uses for Wu detection is gone, likely left in his lab when he went up to check on Juliet. Jack grumbles, annoyed that they nearly missed a Wu, Juliet bumps shoulders with him in a small comfort before turning back to Kimiko.

 

“So, what’s the Wu?” Juliet asks, pausing to wait next to Kimiko when she kneels to pick up Dojo.

 

“The Goblet of Life, it’s a healing Shen Gong Wu,” Dojo answers, “healing Wu is pretty rare anyway, but this one packs a wallop,” he pauses to frantically itch at a bright red rash along his back, ignoring the disgusted faces the three around him make, “The Goblet of Life reacts to its user’s intentions, so if the user wanted to heal a teammate it would turn any liquid it holds into a healing potion of sorts, but, if the user's intention was to hurt or kill someone, well, the opposite would be true.” He explains, itching at his back roughly.

 

“Okay stop doing that,” Juliet orders, riffling through the pockets of her small apron, she pulls out a small tube, “here, try this,” she unscrews the cap and squeezes a large amount of lotion onto Dojo’s scales.

 

The dragon sighs in relief when the lotion hits his scales, quickly working it into the rash, Kimiko eyes the tube as Juliet screws the cap back on, “What’s that and where can we get it.” she demands, expression intense at the possibility of not having to deal with Dojo’s Wu rash.

 

Juliet laughs, stepping closer to Kimiko to tuck the tube into a pocket of the backpack she wears, “It’s a hand cream I use when I work with clay, it’s really heavy duty, I have a bad habit of leaving dried clay all over my hands when I’m working on something and something about it dries my hands out like crazy. You can keep that one, I have tons, and I’ll text you the site I buy it off real quick.” she explains, pulling her phone out of her apron pocket and tapping away.

 

“You have reception out here!? Not fair I’ve got, like, zero bars!” Kimiko complains, Jack spots Juliet smirk and cuts her off before they can derail the topic further.

 

“Anyway! The Wu?” Jack interrupts loudly, shoving his way between the two.

 

“Oh right, Dojo, where is the Wu? I don’t see any fancy mystical places it could be hiding.” Juliet looks over Jack’s head to continue her previous discussion.

 

“Well, that’s just the thing, if this Wu got into the wrong hands it could cause mass destruction, so we gave it to someone to guard it from any unsavory sorts.” Dojo explains, visibly relaxed in Kimiko’s arms now that his rash is soothed.

 

“Wait, wait, wait, who could you possibly have given it to? Anyone from fifteen hundred years ago is long dead by now.” Jack reasons, wishing he had his watch to guide them and not this crazy dragon.

 

“Not necessarily,” Juliet muses, “If people like Wuya and Chase Young exist then other immortals should as well, right Dojo?”

 

Dojo nods, “Right you are. We left the Goblet in the hands of another immortal, though I couldn’t tell you much about her other than that she was the emperor's bride at the time, she was willing to guard the Goblet for us, in exchange for protection for her husband or something, it’s all pretty fuzzy.” Dojo taps his head, “poor memory and all, but I don’t need much memory to find Wu. Anyway, it’s lucky you too found us, if you’d have tried to find this Wu by yourselves you’d be walking in circles all day.”

 

“What do you mean?” Juliet asks, pausing in her walking to eye a large rock in front of her dubiously, Jack rolls his eyes and helps her over it, taking the moment to nag at her about proper sprain handling and how she should be off her foot not wandering through the forest. He can tell she’s not listening to him.

 

“Immortals like her shield their homes with magic to keep humans out, other immortals and magical creatures can see the magic and can get around it, but for two humans like yourselves, well, you’d just be sent another direction with you realizing it.” Dojo explains, suddenly his entire body shivers, “We’re close, stay close kids, otherwise you’ll get turned around.”

 

They walk for several minutes in complete silence, the monks crowded tightly around Jack and Juliet to be close as possible to Dojo and whatever magical influence he had. They move quickly through the trees, not bothering to be quiet with their approach, Jack see Juliet stumble several times as the pain from her ankle makes her limp, and almost calls for everyone to stop when something shifts. Between one blink and another they’ve changed locations entirely, though the same trees and plants surround them, the feel of the forest has shifted. The air feels charged and heavy with magic, with every breath in Jack’s head spins, for just a moment it feels familiar, like the instant a Wu activates and charges the area around you with magic for a split second. Then the rush is gone, and the air feels normal in his lungs once more, he feels a weight leaning heavily against his side, and sees Juliet, wide eyed and gasping for breath, he turns to help in some way, but before he can check her over it stops, and she is back to normal. Jack watches Juliet looks around with wide eyes, careful to see if she has any other reactions to the magic around them, but Juliet only grins at him, and pushes past the monks to wander further into the area.

 

Jack quickly follows her, the forest remains similar to the rest for a long while, and Jack follows the red flash of her hair between the trees until the bright curls disappear from sight, there's a gasp up ahead soon after and Jack rushes to see where she went. He steps between two similar trees, looking frantically for his friend, when suddenly the area shifts again and he’s in a clearing full of flowers. Juliet stands ahead of him, in the center of a neat path made of flat stones of various shapes in the center of the field, she’s grinning, and when she turns to look at him a strong breeze blows past her, blowing a cloud of colorful petals into her face, Jack feels himself grinning at her sputtering, and when the breeze brushes through his hair he swears he hears faint playful laughter.

 

“Rude!” Juliet exclaims to the area around her, running her fingers through her hair to remove the petals, the wind of course, doesn’t answer her, so Jack fills the silence with his own laughter at his friend's expense. Juliet huffs, turning back to the field of flowers with a pout as the monks break through the tree line. They gasp, all making their own appreciative noises at the pretty area but staying in their tight circle around Dojo.

 

“Juliet, maybe you should stay close, what if whoever lives here shows up?” Kimiko calls over, worry in her voice.

 

“Oh, that would be most wonderful Kimiko! I would very much enjoy meeting whoever Grand Master Dashi trusted with this Shen Gong Wu!” Omi exclaims, missing Kimiko’s worry completely as he runs over to join Juliet next to the flowers.

 

“I wouldn’t worry about that, if she was here she’d already be here greeting us.” Dojo shrugs looking unconcerned.

 

“If she’s not here to guard it then what the point of giving it to her?” Raimundo complains, “Seems like a whole lot of work getting here if it’s not even protected.”

 

“You know, I think the whole, double enchanted entrance thing is pretty good protection by itself,” Juliet says, kneeling next to the flowers and leaning over to get a good look at them, Jack watches as she gestures for Omi to join her, and brings her face close to a particularly bright bloom, she speaks to Omi in a quiet voice, grinning as he listens seriously, the curls of her hair just brushing the petals of some of the other flowers around them. Jack’s attention is drawn away from his friend when Dojo speaks.

 

“She’s right, this place is full of protection magic, and is likely home to other magical crea-” Dojo is cut off mid word when Omi shouts in surprise, everyone's attention snaps over to the two next to the flowers.

 

Omi has fallen back onto his rear on the stone path, eyes wide in surprise and mouth hanging open from his shout. All eyes look from him to Juliet, who hasn’t moved from her original spot, she sits frozen in place, eyes locked on a point near the ends of her hair, one hand half raised towards the flowers in front of her blocks whatever she stares at. Jack rushes over to see what’s wrong, prompting the other monks to follow, the sound of his boots against the stone breaks Juliet out of whatever trance kept her frozen in place, and she looks up at him with wide eyes when he comes to a stop next to her. He’s halfway into asking her what's wrong when he sees it, dangling from a curl of Juliet’s hair, totally unconcerned of the tension in the air, is a tiny, naked woman.

 

She’s like a tiny ball jointed doll, only about as tall as his hand from the bottom of his palm to the tip of his middle finger, with rich dark skin covered in swirls and dots of glimmering yellow, and a head full of dark curls like Juliet’s, oh, and wings. They’re bright yellow and partially translucent, like dragonfly wings, they flutter behind her as she sways in the breeze that blows past, steadying her as she grins up at Juliet.

 

“Oh, you’ve got to be fucking with me.” Jack groans at the exact moment that Kimiko gasps in awe.

 

“A Fairy!”

 

* * *

 

 

The fairy giggles, the sound ringing around them like bells, and removes one hand from Juliet’s hair to wave at them excitedly, she slips a bit, sliding down to the very ends of Juliet’s hair. Juliet winces at the tug, and moves the hand frozen in mid reach to cup under the fairy’s body, she giggles again and slides into her hand, wings fluttering in her excitement. Juliet holds her carefully as she shifts back to sit on the stone path next to Jack’s legs, watching her carefully for any signs of discomfort.

 

The fairy stands once Juliet is settled, steadying herself on her thumb and grinning up at the group surrounding her, her wings flutter as she steadies herself, they brush across the inside of Juliet’s fingers with every pass, and Jack watches Juliet slowly realize this is actually happening. she trills up at the rest of them, and makes several more noises similar before stopping and looking expectant. She huffs when they stare at her blankly, stomping her tiny foot in frustration before turning her attention to Juliet. Juliet’s eyes widen when the fairy makes the same noises at her, and confusion passes across Juliet’s face.

 

Juliet opens her mouth to speak, but hesitates, watching the fairy in her palm with confusion and wonder. The fairy grins up at her, and flaps her wings until she’s level with Juliet’s face, she flutters around her head, making more trilling sounds and tugging on strands of her hair. Juliet watches this with amusement, waving Omi away when he tries to approach, and allows the fairy to do as she wishes. The fairy huffs when Juliet doesn’t react to her trilling, and moves to tug on one of her fingers, trying to lead her into the field of flowers behind her, this is when Jack steps in. He puts a hand on Juliet’s shoulder, pulling her back from where the fairy had pulled her slightly forward, and holds her there. Juliet allows this, staring at the fairy with confusion and wariness once more, and gently shakes the fairy off her hand. She huffs once more, and lets out one final trill before flying away back into the flowers.

 

“Okay, that was fucking weird.” Jack states after several moments of silence, he reaches down to help Juliet stand, checking her over for any damage as she steadies.

 

“Understatement of the century Spicer,” Raimundo rolls his eyes, “Sure seemed to like you though.” He finishes, eyeing Juliet suspiciously.

 

Jack glares at him, pulling Juliet to his side protectively, Dojo makes a considering noise behind them, “Maybe you have some Fae blood in you, they would probably be able to sense it, then again, fairies are notably curious creatures, so It also could have just been something she liked about you,” Dojo shrugs, unconcerned, and looks around the clearing, “Feels like the Wu is that way.” he points further down the path, where the trees narrow the area to just the path, blocking the view of whatever is beyond.

 

Juliet still looks concerned, glancing in the direction the fairy went before nodding and grabbing Jack’s hand, she leads the way through the path, sending one last lingering glance into the field of flowers before leading them the rest of the way.

 

The walk isn’t far, and soon they stand in another large clearing of flowers, the only difference to the last clearing is the massive and clearly ancient tree filling most of the area. It’s different from the other trees surrounding the clearing, while the other trees are thin and wiry, this one is probably twenty people wide, with heavy branches that fill the sky and block all but smallest slivers of sunlight. At its base sits a small pond, with a different group of flowers in front of it, they draw the eye with their blankness, a patch of white in a field of soft color, all but for a single red bloom in the center,

 

Juliet walks towards the flowers, releasing his hand when she kneels to get a better look, her fingers brush the petals of the closest white bloom, “Jewels?” he calls, concerned at her silence, the monks murmur behind them, but Jack ignores that to stand next to Juliet. He touches her shoulder lightly, he jumps back when she flinches, and hovers behind her worriedly. She stands after a long few minutes, and looks over at him and, for just a second, her eyes are sad, but when he blinks the look is gone, and she’s back to looking around the clearing curiously.

 

Jack reaches out to touch her shoulder again for comfort but is distracted by a blur of yellow in the corner of his vision, then green, then pink, before he can so much as blink there are three fairies circling Juliet’s head. The yellow one from before is back, along with a slightly larger fairy with pink dragonfly wings, tan skin covered in bright pink dots like freckles and wispy pink hair. A green fairy that’s nearly identical to the yellow except for her green wings and markings glides ahead of the other two, leading them as they circle around Juliet. The yellow one makes more trilling noises while the other two stay silent, Jack flinches back at their sudden appearance, running into Clay’s chest, he just finishes steadying himself when the green one speaks.

 

“You, mortal girl, what is your name?” her voice is high and melodic, and surprisingly loud for coming from such a small body, she moves to hover in front of Juliet’s face, clearly expecting an answer. Jack hears Dojo frantically whisper something to the monks but he can’t quite understand it, anxiety builds in his chest at the unknown danger Juliet might be getting into, his stomach turns when she opens her mouth to answer.

 

“Jewels,” she says, “My name is Jewels.”

 

“Is that your true name?” The fairy demands, hovering closer to Juliet’s face.

 

“As far as you know,” She smirks.

 

The fairy stares at her for a long moment, small face deadly serious, before finally she grins, “Clever mortal, I had thought your kind had forgotten what we can do with your names, but I was mistaken,” she looks disappointed for a moment before  turning to her companions and trilling something, they others trill something in return, and the green fairy nods before looking back at Juliet, “You walk on our lady’s lands, no mortal should be allowed passage here, and yet, here you are. What do you search for in our lady’s grove?”

 

Juliet hesitates, glancing behind him at Dojo, she nods at whatever she sees him doing and smiles towards the fairies in front of her, “We are looking for a goblet entrusted to your lady over a thousand years ago, do you know where we could find it?”

 

The fairy thinks for a moment, before smiling mischievously, “Perhaps, but what would you give in return?”

 

Juliet sighs, clearly expecting that answer, and shakes her head, “Never mind, we’ll look for it ourselves, will I anger your lady if I go up there?” she asks, pointing up to the branches of the tree’s.

 

The fairy shrugs, “Our lady took everything of importance when she took her child to a new nest, if you take anything she deems important she can find you easily to retrieve it,” Juliet nods, turning towards the tree and looking for a place to start climbing.

 

“Jewels! No climbing! You’re hurt remember!” Jack exclaims, tugging her back from the tree.

 

“Ruby, darling, it’s fine” She rolls her eyes, Jack pointedly ignores the snickers from behind him at Juliet’s nickname for him, “I’ll use the Heli-pack if it means that much to you.”

 

“Jewels, I swear if you break your ankle I’m going to tell you I told you so for the rest of your life.” he threatens, groaning in frustration when she shrugs.

 

“That’s fair, bye Ruby!” she laughs, activating the Heli-pack and carefully rising into the air, avoiding the leaves and branches above her as much as she can. The fairies follow her, trilling and talking to her all at once.

 

Jack sighs, running a hand roughly through his hair, he turns back to the monks to find them spread out and already searching, he curses under his breath for a few minutes before following Clay as he searches with Dojo. Clay ignores him but allows him to tag along, not that they find anything, every time Dojo thinks he’s getting close, the sense changes direction, shifting to the other side of the clearing. Jack keeps a close eye on the other monks just in case they have better luck, but the longer Juliet stays up in the tree the more he finds himself glancing up in the branches to check for her. Eventually he gets distracted enough looking for her that he runs directly into Clays back, what’s that, three collisions today? Four?

 

The cowboy only chuckles, glancing up at the branches as well while Dojo reorients himself again, “She don’t fear much does she? First going toe to toe with Wuya, and now going off with a buncha fairies all alone while injured.” Clay shakes his head in disbelief and shifts his grip on Dojo.

 

Jack groans, “It’s not that she’s fearless or anything, it’s like, okay, so you know those elderly people that when they reach a certain age they just stop giving a shit and do whatever they want? That’s Jewels, the only thing is she’s been like this since we were little, so like, she just doesn’t really care, she’s just going to do whatever and deal with the consequences, whatever they are,” he rolls his eyes, but he can’t keep the fond tone out of his voice, “it’s part of the reason I didn’t want her to meet Wuya, and god forbid she meet Chase.” he shudders, imagining the swift and painful death Juliet would receive after five minutes with the Heylin Lord.

 

Clay laughs, moving forward in the new direction Dojo instructs, “Well if anybody’s brave or fool enough to dump paint on a Heylin Witch and live to tell the tale, they’d probably last with Chase Young, at least a few minutes,” he chuckles, shaking his head and looking up, “Speakin’ of, there’s your girl.” he gestures up with his chin, and Jack’s head snaps up to search the branches, he spots her quickly, she’s exiting some kind of opening in the tree and cradling something close to her chest.

 

He and Clay move closer to the tree, she spots them quickly and raises and arm for an exaggerated wave, “I didn’t find the Wu, but I found something interesting!” she calls down, gaining everyone’s attention, she tucks whatever she’s holding into a pocket and walks over to the edge of the branch, she reaches up to press the button to activate the Heli-pack when she suddenly freezes. They watch from the ground as Juliet quickly ducks out of the way as a large branch is thrown towards her, Wuya walks out of the foliage, fuming and still covered in some paint. Juliet scrambles out of the way, and hops down to a lower branch but she’s quickly followed. Wuya advances on Juliet quickly and just as she reaches out to grab her arm, Clay reacts. Dojo is quickly shoved into Jack’s arms before Clay brings his heel down hard on the ground, creating a large boulder that he quickly kicks towards them.

 

Jack panics and tries to stop him, “You’re going to hit Jewels!” he yells, too late. The boulder flies towards them, Juliet spots it first, she yanks her arm away from Wuya and backs up to brace her left foot against the trunk of the tree, and then she does something stupid.

 

Jack watches as Juliet lunges at Wuya, using the momentum from pushing off the trunk to collide with her, hard. They go sprawling, rolling over and over towards the end of the huge tree branch, they roll to a stop with Juliet hovering over Wuya just as the boulder hits the tree, and Juliet holds onto the branch under them tightly as it shakes wildly under the force. Several minutes pass, no one moves on the ground, all stare in horror up that the tree, waiting for the branch to fall. But it holds.

 

Juliet stands shakily, and yells down to them, “Clay what the fuck! Do you _know_ how old this tree is!” her voice is shaky, but she’s alright enough to be indignant so everyone breathes a sigh of relief.

 

Jack’s legs give out underneath him, too shaky to hold him up anymore, he’s halfway to hyperventilating but manages to glare up at Clay, “NEVER, do that again.” he gasps out, he’s not exactly intimidating right now but Clay gulps and nods quickly, mumbling a sheepish apology. Jack takes a second to get his breathing back to normal before he looks back up to find Juliet, she’s half turned towards Wuya, and holding out a hand to presumably help her up. Wuya scoffs at her offering, and shoves her away, she stumbles, her ankle gives out under her, and suddenly she’s plummeting towards the ground.

 

Jack’s heart is back in his throat, and for the few seconds she free falls he’s terrified all over again. Then, just as quickly as she fell, someone catches her. Juliet dangles next to a lower branch by her wrist, he watches her stare at her savior, the fear easing in his chest, then he realizes who it is.

 

Chase Young.

 

It’s the fucking disaster scenario.

 

Jack isn’t sure rather to be even more scared than before or relieved that Juliet is no longer falling to her death, he settles for a distant numbness, unable to handle this after all the stress of the last few minutes.

 

He watches Juliet swing her legs back and forth, “Oh holy shit! It’s the Lizard of Oz!” she yells, giggling hysterically.

 

Jesus Christ.

 

They had a few good years, sure most of them were spent apart but seventeen years of friendship isn’t too bad, the rational part of his brain is screaming, unable to deal with the fact that his best friend is about to be murdered by his Idol. He watches numbly as Chase stares at Juliet, he can’t see their expressions, that’s probably for the best. He waits for Chase to drop her.

 

But.

 

Suddenly Juliet is safely on the tree branch, solidly on her feet and alive. Jack feels tears prick at the corners of his eyes, suddenly he’s sobbing, all the emotions he’s felt over the last few minutes overwhelming him. He hears the Monks shift uncomfortably next to him, but he ignores that, too busy crying his way through his anxiety.

 

After a while, he’s pulled into a hug, and when he breathes in he can smell the familiar cinnamon spice of Juliet’s perfume, she rocks them back and forth for a while, allowing him to get most of his tears out before she pulls back. He then feels soft cloth against his cheeks, wiping away the tears even as they keep coming, “Aw Ruby, I’m sorry I scared you.” Juliet coo’s, wiping at the streaks of smeared eyeliner running down his cheeks with a cloth she pulled out of somewhere.

 

“I-I’m going to be dead by thirty with all the fuckin’ stress you cause me,” he hiccups, sniffling loudly as his tears slowly stop. When he finally looks up, he sees the monks all turned away from them, giving him a small amount of privacy, his cheeks still burn with embarrassment but the gesture is nice enough.

 

“Oh no, don’t say that, who will nag me for doing stupid shit if you’re gone?” she finishes cleaning his face, folding the ruined handkerchief and shoving it into one of her pockets before pulling out a travel pack of tissues and putting them in his hands.

 

He blows his nose loudly, and takes a deep breath before answering, “Well, Wuya’s pretty good at nagging.” he manages a weak grin, and sees Juliet roll her eyes.

 

“Oh please, we’d kill each other within the hour. Besides, it wouldn’t be the same.” she stands up, and smooth back his hair affectionately before she turns and limps a ways away, “Green, Pink, Yellow, I didn’t scare you away did I?” she calls into the clearing, the three fairies fly over to her, and circle her with their usual trills, she smiles before she continues, “Well, now that the gangs all here,” she gestures over to Chase and Wuya who stand at the other end of the clearing, Wuya glares fiercely at Juliet but stays at Chase’s side, “I propose a deal in exchange for the Goblet.”

 

Green looks curious and trills at her companions, after a few minutes pass, Green nods and moves to the side for Pink to flutter forward, “What is your deal, mortal?” Pink asks, her voice as soft and melodic as one would expect from looking at her dreamy expression.

 

Juliet grins, “A game,” she begins, “one where you can cause as much mischief as you’d like and play as many tricks as your heart's desire.” The fairies look intrigued, and Juliet’s grin widens, “The rules of the game are simple, but we need the Goblet to begin.” she finishes, and watches the fairies trill at each other.

 

Pink speaks again, “We will take your deal, but if this game displeases us we will ask for something else.”

 

“Two conditions, I want your word that you will not lie about the outcome, and no tricks outside of the game, we will know.” Juliet demands, expression pleased but still mildly suspicious.

 

The fairies look annoyed at the conditions but nods, “Very well mortal, you have our word.” they fly together towards the tree, and Jack watches them dive into the pond at its base.

 

It is silent for a long time, but then Omi pipes up from behind Jack, “How do you know they will keep their word?”

 

Juliet makes a considering sound, “Well, I don’t know for certain, all the stories of fairies I’ve seen say they are bound by their word, but we’ll know if they bring us a fake Goblet for sure.” she walks back to Jack and grabs his hand to pull him to his feet.

 

“How will we know that?” Kimiko asks, her and the rest of the monks walk over to them, crowding around Juliet to hear her plan.

 

“I’m going to start a Xiaolin Showdown, if the Goblet doesn’t react to all of us fighting over it, then we’ll know,” She shrugs, “Unless I’m wrong, do you think this will work Dojo?”

 

“Eh, it’s hard to say, theoretically, it should work, but we don’t know what kind of magic is in this place that could interfere.” Dojo shrugs, wrapping himself around Omi’s head.

 

“Uh, one problem, I don’t have any Wu. Wasn’t exactly expecting a Wu hunt when we landed here.” Jack admits, kicking the ground lightly.

 

Juliet nods and turns to stare pointedly at Raimundo, they stare at each other for several minutes, Juliet cool and expectant and Raimundo stubbornly not budging. Eventually he gives, grumbling under his breath as he digs through his pockets, “Fine, I guess you did save my ass last time, here, take it,” he shoves the Mantis Flip Coin into Jack’s hand, “You can keep it if you win the Showdown, or whatever.”

 

“Thank you,” Juliet smiles, Jack mumbles a quiet thanks and they fall back into silence. Juliet leans heavily into Jack’s side, keeping the weight off her ankle, and waves him off before he can ask about it. After several minutes of waiting the fairies return, all three struggling to carry a golden Goblet encrusted in red jewels, they come to a stop next to Juliet and allow her to take the Goblet from them. Juliet walks into the center of the clearing as gestures for the others to come closer.

 

“So, how are we doing this Jewels?” Jack asks once everyone is in a loose circle around her.

 

“I’m going to call for one person from each, uh, group I guess and then I’ll issue the challenge, you guys might want to hold on,” she explains, directing the last part the three fairies, once they settle onto her shoulders she continues, “Alright, I need Ruby, Cowboy, Witch, and Lizzy to come take hold of a piece of the Goblet.”

 

Jack, Clay, Wuya and Chase step forward, and Juliet pulls back on the Goblet to activate the Showdown. The other follow her example, each pulling back on the Wu to try and take it for themselves, the Wu begins to Glow, and Juliet immediately sets the game, “I challenge all of you to a Xiaolin Showdown, I don’t know or really care what Wu you all have on hand, use one of them, no changing your mind once the challenge is issued,” She waits for them to nod and pull out their Wu before continuing, “The game is: Catch me if you can. If one of you can catch me and take the Goblet from my hands, you win. If you get thrown out of the area you’re out of the Showdown, any questions?” she waits, “Alright, let’s go, Xiaolin Showdown!”

 

There’s a flash of light, and Juliet and the Goblet are gone, before any of them can react to this, the area begins to shift. The massive tree in front of them warps and grows, grabbing them in its branches and rocketing skyward. The tree stops growing upward once they’re several hundred feet above the tree line, and the branches thicken and wrap around each other to make a maze of branches and leaves. The change settles and they find themselves on the lowermost branches, in a new branch woven clearing, silver light draws their attention skyward, where the branches have made a small hole for sunlight to filter in, Juliet stands there, leaning casually against the trunk of the tree, body wrapped in a silvery robe with three glowing lights of Pink, Green, and Yellow surrounding her, once she has their attention she speaks, and her voice rings from all around them, “Gong Yi Tanpai.”

 

Everyone bursts into activity, Wuya launches into the air to get to higher branches, Chase takes a deep breath in through his nose before following, and Clay runs towards the trunk of the tree and begins to scale it. Jack activates the Mantis Flip Coin and goes for the upper branches, he pauses at a place near the trunk about halfway up, before he can take another jump he spots a flash of red hair through the leaves. He turns towards the flash of color and sprints down a large branch, he hears laughter from below and jumps down to a lower branch before running in that direction. He sees the red again and pushes himself to run faster, he pauses on one of the outer branches, looking around the clearing for any sign of her, he hears the rustling of leaves behind him and lets out a tiny squeak when he turns and sees Clay advancing quickly on him. His mind flashes to the self-defense classes, and the technique Alec had shown him just a few days ago, and reacts. He waits for Clay to get closer, and his mind is blank when he moves forward and grabs Clays arm, he barely has time to registers the look of surprise on Clay’s face before he’s using his momentum against him and flipping him over his shoulder. Jack doesn’t wait to watch Clay topple off the branch, but he hears the shout and winces a little, he has a moment to wonder how he’ll be paying for that later and but quickly shifts his focus when a gust of wind nearly blows him off his branch, he hears Juliet’s laughter as it passes and grins.

 

He uses the Mantis Flip Coin to reach the higher branches, and sticks close to the trunk as he searches for signs of Juliet, soon he hears shouts of frustration and cursing. He follows that to Wuya, whose hair has been turned a glittery pink and is struggling to get her hand out of the branch she’s standing on, he backs away slowly before she can spot him and take her anger out on him. He jogs along a branch near Wuya, and hears her shout of excitement before he sees her running along the branch next to him. She slides to a stop and glares at him, she braces to jump towards him but stops as a sliver light distracts them both, they take off running after it and soon Juliet appears. She’s followed by the glowing lights and draped in a shining silver robe, when she looks back her eyes flash silver and Jack slows to a stop. It’s not her, he can feel it, this figment of his friend is too ethereal, too picture perfect to be the real Juliet. It has her face, but not fully, this one glows with a literal inner light that Juliet doesn’t have, its hair is longer and less curly and the laugh it lets out as Wuya gets close is too much like bells than Juliet’s usual laughter. He turns around just as Wuya launches herself to grab at the illusion, he sees the outside of Juliet’s form turn into silver mist when Wuya touches it, and ignores Wuya’s yells of rage as she falls through the illusion and through branches.

 

He decides to find Chase, on the chance that he could sense the fairy magic being used and find Juliet around it. He passes three fake Juliet’s as he searches, the last pouts at him as he passes and forms in front of him just to hit him in the face with an armful of leaves, it’s the first Juliet like thing they’ve done the whole Showdown. He finds Chase when he reaches the branches just below the opening for sunlight, he’s running after a Juliet wearing the same thing she had been before the showdown began, paint covered legs and all, except for the thick branch of tree seemingly growing around her right foot. She’s alone besides Chase, no fairies flying beside her as she jumps and swings from branch to branch in a circle to keep away from Chase. She glances back at Jack when he activates his Wu, and lets out a more typical giggle before changing directions entirely. Jack follows her as she scales the highest branches and jumps through the opening for sunlight, she stumbles as she climbs onto the outer leaves of the tree, but rockets off when he and Chase join her. Chase is gaining on her, just a few paces ahead of Jack, and Jack watches Juliet run towards the edge of the tree with horror. She pauses just long enough to turn and give Chase a jaunty wave before she falls backwards off the tree. Chase stops when he reaches the edge, but Jack doesn’t even think, he keeps running, mind racing with memories of all the times Juliet could have died today. He shoves Chase out of the way as he passes and launches off the tree after Juliet, eyes squeezed shut so to not have to watch his own fall.

 

He free falls for what feels like an eternity, he curses his lack of Heli-pack—

 

Wait.

 

He hits another body seconds later, something hard and metal digs into his chest, his face is buried in another person's neck, a person that smells like cinnamon and spice, he quickly shifts, clutching onto the person's sides, and comes face to face with a grinning Juliet.

 

“Well, I’d say you’re an even bigger idiot than I am,” She laughs, holding him close as they hover next to the giant tree, the blades of the Heli-pack whirring behind them, “You should take the Goblet, Ruby baby, let’s finish this thing.”

 

He nods absently, leaning back to wrap a hand around the Goblet between them. In a flash, the land shifts back to normal, and Juliet gently lowers them to the ground in front of the small pond, he clutches five Wu in his arms, but barely looks at them before Juliet slams into him for a hug. Her excitement is infectious and soon they’re booth laughing joyfully, ignoring the others in the clearing. When they finally calm down, Chase and Wuya are gone, and the Monks stand awkwardly on the other side of the clearing.

 

Juliet waves to them, bouncing up and down excitedly before wincing, when they look down they watch the branch that had grown around her ankle fall away, and Juliet hisses when she tries to put her foot down. Jack quickly sets the Wu in his arms on the ground next to them, and leans down to fill the Goblet with water from the pond.

 

He does his best to channel his intentions of healing Juliet into the Goblet before speaking, “Goblet of Life,” the water inside the Goblet shines gold for a moment, when the light fades a silvery liquid is left, Jack eyes it warily, glancing up at Juliet and waiting for her nod before he passes it to her.

 

Juliet takes a deep breath before downing the liquid in the Goblet, she coughs and pulls a face at the taste when she’s done, and a few seconds later her body glows silver like the fairy’s trick before fading away quickly. She carefully puts weight on her foot, and makes a pleased sound when she finds no pain, “Holy shit it worked!” she exclaims, waving the monks over as she jumps from foot to foot.

 

Jack breathes a sigh of relief, gathering the Wu in his arms before standing again, “Thank fuck, you’ve already almost died 5 times today, I’d hate for that to be the real time.”

 

She shoves his shoulder lightly with an eyeroll, “I had everything under control, I— oh.” she stops in the middle of her sentence when the yellow fairy comes barreling toward her, zipping around her head excitedly, “Well, guess you had fun,” she laughs, “Where’s your friends?” Yellow points over to the flower field lining the forest, “Oh, alright, guess they were satisfied too,” Yellow nods, she trills and point the flowers again and then points to herself, “You too? Well goodbye then.” Yellow trills, flying up to Juliet and pressing a tiny kiss to her cheek before flying off. Juliet blinks, startled and confused, and Jack laughs.

 

“Breaking women's hearts wherever we go, huh Jewels?” he teases as the Monks walk up to them, she punches him in the arm, worth it.

 

The monks look at Jack strangely for a beat before Kimiko breaks the weird tension in the air by speaking, “How did you outrun Chase Young? Isn’t super speed one of his things?” Kimiko asks.

 

Juliet shrugs, “I don’t know about that, but, it was like he didn’t actually want to catch me, like he was just following me around. Maybe at the end he did but for the rest of the time it wasn’t serious.”

 

Omi frowns, “Be careful Miss Juliet, Chase Young is a crafty adversary, if he has a plan t is never a good thing.”

 

Juliet just looks mildly amused at this, and reaches down to pat Omi’s head, “I’ll keep an eye on it Omi, promise.”

 

“Anyway, sorry Xiaolin Losers, Jewels and I have got to jet.” Jack says, pushing his way through the monks to leave the area.

 

“Um, how? We only have the Heli-pack and you’ve got a lot to carry there. Also, um, I wasn’t paying attention to where we were going so I have no idea how to get home.” Juliet calls over to him, trailing behind him slowly and glancing back at the monks every few steps.

 

Jack freezes mid step, “You’re kidding.” he deadpans, turning back to face Juliet, she looks guilty.

 

“Sorry?”

 

Jack groans, head in his hands, and tenses when he hears Kimiko speak, “Um, do you guys want a ride?” when he looks up Dojo is already full sized, and the monks are sitting on his back watching them expectantly.

 

“Oh no, no, no, no, nononono.” Jack says at the same time as Juliet speaks.

 

“Yes, thank you Kimiko!” She smiles, and grabs Jack’s arm, dragging him over to the Monks and Dojo and ignoring his complaints.

 

“Jewels nooooooooooooooooooooo.”

 

* * *

 

 

When they get home, Jack is exhausted and queasy from flying on an undulating dragon, he stumbles through the door, barely taking the time to shove his new Wu into a JackBots arms before he collapses onto the living room couch face first. He hears Juliet shuffle in behind him, and hears her slump into the couch across from him and put her feet up on the coffee table between them.

 

The silence lasts long enough for Jack to almost be asleep when Juliet finally speaks, “Oh, I forgot to show you what I found in the tree! Hold on,” he hears her dig through her pockets, debating his motivation to move, and rolls over with a groan once the sound she’s making stops. She’s holding two things carefully, lifting them up just high enough for him to see. In her right hand she cradles a doll, it looks ancient, the main fabric looks old and rough, like burlap that has yellowed significantly with time, and it’s covered in differently patterned patches and various colors of thread, it’s a child’s toy, clearly well loved, too well loved to be left in an empty tree. It makes him sad when he stares at it, so he quickly shifts his gaze to the other thing in Juliet’s hands. It’s a feather, it’s nearly a foot long, and deep royal blue, the patterns look like a peacock feather, but the shape is like the primary feather of an owl.

 

“That’s a weird feather,” he mumbles, eyes drooping as drowsiness hits him.

 

“Yeah, it’s warm too, and not just cause it was in my pocket, it was warm when I first picked it up.” Juliet explains, Jack barely registers the confused tone of her voice, nearly asleep by the time she finishes her sentence. The last thing he hears is her chuckle at him, and then he’s out cold.

 

* * *

 

 

In his dreams, he’s back in the clearing. His body feels smaller, the tree towers over him even more than it did earlier, and he sits in front of the pond, watching a blob swim around deep in the water. Eventually his mind registers things beyond the pond, the sweet smell of flowers, the feel of the wind on his cheeks. The wind blows past his ears, sweet, joyous laughter dances around his head, and then the wind moves on. The blob moves differently now, it swims up towards him, and just before it’s head breaches the water, Birdsong fills his ears, only one bird sings, but it’s song is bright and happy, he smiles. The wind whispers something else into his ear.

 

_Mother_

 

He wakes up.

 

The dream is gone from his memory before he sits up, and the clinking of a paintbrush against glass blows away any lingering thoughts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I'm going to try and get on track with posting like I said last chapter, so the next chapter could either come on the 1st or 15th depending on how much time I'll have.
> 
> Also, if any of you have horrible dragon themed puns or nicknames let me know, I'm uh, asking for a friend


	6. Birthdays and Gifts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I wrote this in like three days, let me know if there's any mistakes, I tried my best but I rushed to get back on track! 
> 
> I'm posting this now since I'll be in the car all day tomorrow, next update will be on the 15th!

The following week is relatively mundane compared to the hectic changes and near-death experiences of the week before. Jack settles fully into his training routine with Juliet, his body eventually getting used to waking up early and running through their morning routine, he still complains the entire time, but really, he wouldn’t be Jack if he didn’t. His classes with Alec continue, and he finds himself feeling less and less nervous with every class, Alec seems pleased with his progress, and Jack finds him talking with Juliet about advanced classes almost every day that week. He and Vivian team up after his second class to sabotage Juliet, it works like a dream, with Vivian distracting her with flirting and Jack rattling off shitty jokes to make her laugh and lose her balance. After two classes of this, the other students start to join in. Juliet takes it in stride, dramatically exclaiming about being bullied after each class, it makes the others laugh, and the mischief continues.

 

It’s his last Friday of self-defense when something interesting finally happens, he’s taking his mid-class break, and wandering around downstairs to find Juliet. After searching the small building without success, he heads back up to the training room, he waves absently at Alec when he walks in, and heads straight for his bag to find his phone. Once found, he sends a quick ‘ _where r u?’_ to Juliet, and waits for her response while looking for his towel. A few minutes later, his phone buzzes, he taps the screen and sees a picture message from Juliet, he opens it to find a selfie of her and Kimiko, standing in what looks like a mall, he huffs in amusement at the faces they’re pulling before he notices the store they’re standing in front of.

 

He scrambles to call Juliet, fumbling with his phone for a minute in his rush before finally hitting the right button and pressing the phone to his ear. He starts speaking the second he hears Juliet’s amused hello, “Jewels, do NOT take Kimiko into that store!” he exclaims, voice frantic.

 

She laughs, and Jack can hear Kimiko’s muffled voice ask what he said, _“Aw, come on Jack, it’s just a store, we’re all adults here.”_

 

“I do NOT need another weird sex toy for my birthday Jewels!” he shrieks, he hears sputtering and coughing behind him, but is too focused on his phone to care much.

 

 _“But Jackie, it’s tradition!”_ she whines, there’s a shuffling sound as the phone switches hands.

 

 _“Yeah Jack, it’s a tradition.”_ Kimiko’s voice continues, giggly and teasing.

 

“You stay out of this Kimiko!” Jack snaps, his face flush with embarrassment.

 

Kimiko laughs, and the phone switches hands again, _“Sorry Jack, she’s quicker than I thought.”_ Juliet apologizes, and shushes Kimiko when she tries to speak.

 

“Jewels seriously, don’t.” Jack groans, running a hand through his sweaty hair.

 

 _“Okay, Okay, I won’t. You’re no fun.”_ He can hear her pouting, but sighs in relief at her agreement.

 

“Thanks Jewels, how long are you two going to be there?”

 

_“Probably for a while, I am actually buying your present here, and I wanted to go to the bookstore as well. Come join us when you’re cleaned up, I’ll text you the address.”_

 

“Alright, I’ll meet you there, bye Jewels.”

 

_“Bye Ruby.”_

 

Jack sighs after he’s hit the end call button, cheeks still burning with embarrassment, he tucks his phone back into his bag and cautiously turns to see Alec’s reaction. His cheeks are a little flushed and he’s not really making eye contact, but he hasn’t outright said anything yet so Jack decides to take that as a plus. Jack takes a drink from his water bottle and awkwardly stands up, shuffling over to the center of the mat, “Uh, sorry about that, Jewels likes to mess with me a lot.”

 

“It’s, um, it’s fine, no problem at all,” They stand in awkward silence, neither really knowing what to say.

 

Alec is the one to finally break the silence, “I was going to give this to you after today’s class was over, but, um since the subject came up,” He turns away and looks through his bag, coming back with a thin square box a bit larger than his palm, he holds it out to Jack, “here, it’s a little gift for completing your basics, and, uh, happy birthday.” he lets out an awkward laugh.

 

Jack stares at the box for a beat before carefully taking it, inside the box are a pair of brass knuckles nestled in dark red tissue paper, instead of being metal they’re made from some sort of dark green stone and etched with what looks like runes. Jack picks one of them up, it’s surprisingly heavy in his hand, he looks up at Alec with confusion, “They’re pretty, but I don’t understand.”

 

Alec looks embarrassed, he fidgets a bit and runs a hand through his hair before answering, “Juliet was the one to come up with the idea, she found this art piece back in 2012 that was brass knuckles with sharp crystals on the end, and she came to me to figure out if something like that could actually be used. It was back when she was taking her basics like you, and we kind of bonded over researching the practicalities of crystal brass knuckles,” he chuckles, “by the end of her training we’d figured out that it could work, just you know, once. The quartz crystal would probably shatter on impact, which is useful for hurting the person you’re punching, but could just as easily hurt your hand.” He reaches over and picks up the other from the box, “after she finished her basics I kept researching, I found out that if you wanted a gem that would withstand the pressure of a punch you’d need either nephrite or jadeite jade, with nephrite being the best choice. The only issue is that smooth stones like Jade don’t really come in sharp shards like with the quarts without careful cutting,”

 

“So, what did you do?” Jack asks, looking down at the one in his hand.

 

“I told Juliet, she was disappointed but thanked me for taking the extra time, and that was the last I thought about it for around a month,” He takes the box from Jack’s hand, pressing the other piece into his palm and holding the box loosely, “Later, after I had mostly forgotten about the whole thing, Juliet appears with these, a pair for her and for me. The thing about jade is that it’s expensive, nephrite like this isn’t the most expensive type, but it’s still more expensive than diamonds, so you could imagine my shock when she gifted me these,” he nods at the pieces in Jack’s hands, “I tried to refuse them, but she wouldn’t take no for an answer, this was her way of thanking me for helping her research and for ‘coming up with the idea’,” he rolls his eyes, but his expression is fond, “seemed like an awfully expensive thank you to me, but Juliet is and has always been stubborn.”

 

“So why are you giving them to me? Aren’t they important to you?”

 

Alec nods, his smile turns sad, “They are, but something about their meaning makes me think she’d be happier if you had them. Jade is called the ‘stone of heaven’ for it’s remarkable toughness, and has been a symbol of eternity for thousands of years. Jack, you’re Juliet’s most important person, and from what I’ve learned about her over the years, I think each of you having protection that means ‘eternal life’ is probably more meaningful than me keeping them tucked in a drawer for the rest of my life.” He chuckles, and takes the brass(jade?) knuckles from his hands, sliding them onto each of his hands, “See? Fits perfectly.”

 

Jack looks down at his hands and flexes his fingers around the smooth stone resting in his palm, “I— thank you.” He says finally, looking up at Alec with a small smile.

 

Alec grins at him, reaching up to squeeze his shoulder, “Don’t mention it, they suit you better than they did me anyway,” he laughs when Jack rolls his eyes, “Hey, don’t put yourself down, you’ve got potential trust me. I’ll show you how to use those once we finish up today, I have some extra time.”

 

“Thanks Alec.”

 

“Of course, anything for my favorite student.”

 

Jack blushes through the rest of the class, only calming down during the walk to meet Juliet, gift clinking together with every step inside the pocket of his jacket.

 

* * *

 

 

Jack finds them in the food court, surrounded by bags and sitting at a small table towards the center of the room and ignoring the people that surround them in favor of their conversation. Juliet spots him first, she waves him over with a grin, and speaks once he’s close enough, “There’s my darling warrior! How was your last basics?”

 

Jack sits heavily in one of the empty chairs, carefully avoiding kicking the bags around his feet, “It was good, Alec wants you to text him with our pick for the next class by tomorrow. He also gave me a graduation and birthday gift.” he makes grabby hands at her soda.

 

“I’ve narrowed it down to two choices, but I’ll talk with you about that later,” she slides it over to him while she speaks, and lets him drink before stealing it back, “What did he give you?”

 

“Jade brass knuckles.”

 

Kimiko chokes on her drink, “What?! Why would he give you that?” Kimiko asks, disbelief obvious on her face. Juliet looks surprised but understanding.

 

“Don’t blame Alec, Juliet is the one who made them.” he gestures towards Juliet, Kimiko looks over at Juliet with both eyebrows raised, expectant.

 

Juliet shrugs, tearing a paper napkin into strips, “I originally wanted to punch someone in the face with crystal brass knuckles, but I wanted them to last so I had to compromise.” she shrugs again, unbothered by Kimiko’s obvious disbelief.

 

“Juliet, that is not a normal thing to do, you realize that right?” Kimiko laughs, “I think I understand how you two get along so well.”

 

“It took you this long? She threw paint on a Heylin witch and called a Heylin dragon lord two shitty pun names, this isn’t the first time she’s done something strange in front of you, it’s not even in the top ten.” Jack exclaims, stealing Juliet’s drink again and leaning back in his seat.

 

“Okay, true, but that was with magical stuff, everyone does weird and stupid things with that. This your everyday life, why do you have to be strange with that too?” Kimiko insists, Jack shares a look with Juliet and they roll their eyes at the same time.

 

“You cannot tell me that before you became a monk you didn’t do stupid shit,” Juliet deadpans, “you were literally like twelve max, there is no possible way.”

 

“Exactly! I was twelve! You’re an adult, you have less of an excuse for doing dumb shit!” Kimiko exclaims, face flushing with embarrassment at the reminder of her younger days.

 

“Listen, I just want to enjoy being alive,” Juliet leans forward to rest her elbows on the table, “I don’t get why you’re so freaked, this isn’t that weird in comparison to other things I’ve done.” she shrugs.

 

“I don’t know, it just surprised me I guess. I expected you to be more serious outside of Wu.” Kimiko shrugs, she fidgets with the plastic lid on her drink.

 

Jack snorts, “Oh, that’ll change the more you’re around her. Just about everyone she meets thinks she’s some graceful and proper lady, she still has my parents fooled, but spend enough time around her and you see how much of a dweeb she is,” Jack smirks, “It’s the accent I swear.”

 

“Jack I’ve spent over three fourths of my life in the US, I’m pretty sure the accent is gone, I can’t go to London anymore without people thinking I’m American.” Juliet rolls her eyes.

 

“No, he’s right, it’s the accent,” Kimiko says seriously, “it’s really slight but it’s enough I guess.” Juliet groans and kicks Jack under the table, he just laughs.

 

“Anyway, is there anywhere you want to go Jack? We’re pretty much done with all our shopping.” Juliet changes the subject, turning her attention to Jack after he finishes laughing.

 

“Uh, we could go make fun of the shitty tech in an electronics store? I don’t know, I don’t really need anything.” Jack answers.

 

“Let’s do that then, can I trust you not to look in these bags if I hand them to you?” she asks, staring at Jack intently.

 

“Yeah, of course, why is my gift in there?” Jack stands up, gathering several bags in his arms.

 

“Yes, but if you peek I’m taking it back.” Juliet picks up the others, Kimiko following closely behind.

 

“Aw, not fair!” Jack whines, following the two as they weave through the tables and over to the stores.

 

“Them’s the breaks Jackie, no peeking or else.” Juliet calls back, totally unbothered by his whining.

 

They walk quickly through the halls, chatting about nothing important and making sure to stay close as to not get in others way. Jack is content to follow behind the two girls, he glances into windows as they pass absently, he pauses as they pass a men’s clothing store, he stares up at the coat on the mannequin in front of him with awe. The girls seem to have notice him pause, because they’re next to him within seconds of him stopping.

 

“Really? That one?” Juliet speaks first, voice appalled but resigned.

 

“Jewels it’s perfect.” Jack grins, looking over at her excitedly, he sees her and Kimiko exchange a look before she shakes her head.

 

“Jack no, it’s hideous.” she sighs, glancing up at and making a face.

 

Jack doesn’t see what so wrong with it, it’s long and black like his trench coat, with several straps and large buttons. He loves it, “But Jewels, I love it.” he pouts.

 

“Maybe later, I already got your gift, and you’re not buying yourself a birthday present.” she says, she and Kimiko grab his wrists and drag him away from the store.

 

“But guys!” He whines, staring longingly at the jacket until he can’t see it anymore, “You’re both dicks.”

 

They both shrug, “That’s fair, look the electronics store!” Kimiko grins, darting ahead and waiting by the door.

 

Juliet walks with him up to the door, “You two have fun, I’m going in there,” she points to the shoe store across the way, “so come find me once you’re done.” she leaves after their agreement and he and Kimiko walk into the store.

 

“So, what was that look you two shared in front of the jacket about?” Jack asks, looking at the products in front of him, unimpressed.

 

Kimiko giggles, “So, earlier when we were walking around, Juliet stopped in front of that jacket like you did, made a face,” she mimics a disgusted face as she picks up a box off the shelf, “like that, and turns to me and goes ‘Jack would absolutely love this’ with the sourest look on her face. And she was right!” Kimiko laughs.

 

Jack chuckles, “Damn, she’s got me there. So, what have you two been doing? It looks like you have a lot more than a gift for me.” he looks over the flimsy material of one of the displays.

 

“We’ll, we looked for your gift for a while, then Juliet let me buy half the store at Lush, then we spent like two hours in the bookstore, she bought like twenty books on birds.” Kimiko says.

 

“I’ll take that as a hint to start working on more forms for Manna then, where is he by the way?” Jack muses, they duck behind a shelf when the employee at the front desk glares at them.

 

“In Juliet’s purse, he was drawing too much attention with the little kids, so she had to put him away,” she pauses before continuing, “Can I ask about the sex toy thing? Why were you expecting it?”

 

Jack groans and covers his face with his hand, “It’s a tradition, ever since we were kids we’d buy each other one shitty or stupid gift and one actual gift. Juliet’s became mostly weird sex toys once we got older. Hey, wanna bail? Jewels is probably done.” Jack suggests, pointing a thumb towards the door.

 

“Yeah, this isn’t as fun as I thought.” the exit the store and cross the way to the shoe store Juliet is in just as she walks out.

 

“How badly did you terrorize the staff.” It’s not even a question, she waits for their replies expectantly.

 

“We got a few glares for messing with the product but that’s about it. We didn’t really say much about anything so they didn’t get too mad.” Kimiko answers.

 

Juliet shrugs, “Alright, so, ready to go?” at their agreement she turns and lead the way back. They chatter along the way, but soon enough they’re at the front doors and Kimiko turns to give Juliet a hug.

 

“Thanks for hanging out, it’s been forever since I’ve been able to hang out with a female friend who knows about the whole Xiaolin monk thing.” she says after she pulls back, looking happy.

 

“No problem, text me if you want to go out again.” Juliet smiles, she waves as Kimiko leaves, and watches her meet out with her fellow monks before turning away and walking back towards Oasis.

 

“So, is this going to be a regular thing? You hanging out with Kimiko?” Jack asks, quickly matching pace with Juliet.

 

“Probably, the poor girls’ starved for female companionship, the only other option she has is Wuya, and well,” she makes a face, “that wouldn’t exactly go well, so if she wants to hang out I’m cool with that.” she shrugs.

 

“Cool, just checking. Just be sure not to forget about me with your new friend.” He jokes.

 

“Of course not,” Juliet says seriously, “how could I ever forget about you?”

 

“Of course, I’m THE Jack Spicer after all.” he grins, and allows her to shove him playfully. They walk the rest of the was in companionable silence, but Jack’s chest feels warm with the assurance.

 

* * *

 

 

The next day is spent lazily, after their morning workout Juliet turns their living room into a giant blanket fort, and they spend the rest of the day inside, Jack napping and Juliet sketching. Jack suspects it’s to make up for the business of his actual birthday, and luxuriates in the relaxation while it lasts.

 

Jack wakes up the next morning in his bed, and it takes him a few minutes to remember what day it is. He sighs and stares up at his ceiling for a long while before finally rolling out of bed. He glances at the clock as he passes into his bathroom, and is surprised to see it’s 9am, he’s confused about why Juliet hasn’t burst into his room yet to start their daily exercise routine, but shrugs it off. He quickly finishes his morning routine and pads down the stairs, the foyer smells like sugar and baked goods, and when he pokes his head into the kitchen he spots Juliet.

 

She’s in sitting on one of the tall stools next to the kitchen island, dressed in ratty pajama bottoms and one of his old red tank tops with a large mirror on the counter in front of her, she’s carefully finishing a medium box braid, the front of her hair pinned up in equal sections on the top of her head. Next to her are two boxes, both thin and black like clothing boxes and wrapped with a neat red ribbon, next to those is a cake with two tiny red candles showing ‘23’. It’s decorated with black icing roses, four layers of them, lightening from black to a darker gray with every layer.  When Jack walks further in the room he sees red, pearl like sprinkles scattered across the flat top of the cake, along with the words ‘Happy Birthday Bitch’ in dark red icing.

 

Jack snorts, “Oh thank god, this was starting to be a little too sweet for me.” he jokes, walking up the kitchen island and standing in front of it.

 

Juliet rolls her eyes, letting the finished braid drop to join the rest at the finished back of her head, “Oh shut it and eat the cake I made you.”  she pins back the unbraided hair of the layer she’s working on and leans forward to grab a tiny lighter off the counter. She stands up and walks around Jack to the other side of the cake, Jack spots the neatly sectioned out orange-red extensions draped across the stool next to her, but is distracted when she leans forward to carefully light the two candles. She leans back once she’s sure they’re lit, she smiles over at him, and turns to return to her stool while humming the happy birthday song under her breath.

 

He waits until she’s pulls out her phone to and takes several pictures before blowing out his candles, and only flinches a little when Juliet pops a party popper he didn’t even know she had near his head, he waves the confetti away from him with a laugh.

 

“Cake or presents first?” Juliet asks, looking in the mirror to make sure there’s no confetti in her hair.

 

“Presents!” Jack exclaims, moving away from the cake to stand eagerly in front of the two boxes.

 

Juliet laughs and pushes the smaller box towards him, “This one first.”

 

Jack eagerly undoes the ribbon on the box and gently eases the lid off to find black fabric, it’s soft to the touch when he touches it, and looks remarkably similar to the sheets on his bed. He picks up the fabric by two corners with both hands and steps back to get a good look at whatever it is.

 

“You uh, might want to turn it around.” Juliet suggests, she’s trying her best to hold back her laughter with a hand over her mouth, and Jack prepares himself for whatever is on the other side of the fabric before turning it around.

 

It’s

 

Jack stares in shock at the drawing on the other side of the pillow, looking away from it to stare, wide eyed, at Juliet. He takes several glances back and forth between the fabric and his friends face, “You’re kidding.” Juliet shakes her head, endless amusement in her eyes.

 

It’s a fucking Chase Young body pillow case.

 

It’s very, elaborate. Jack can see the detail and work put into it as plain as day. Everything from his serious expression to the details of his armor is drawn in perfect, life sized, detail in Juliet’s familiar art style. This Chase is in full armor, face serious and slightly disappointed as he stares up at the viewer from his place stretched out on black bedsheets. Jack’s cheeks flush and he breaks eye contact with the drawing to glare at his friend, who is now openly laughing at his expression.

 

“Y- your face! Oh my god this was so worth it!” Juliet cackles, wiping tears out of the corners of her eyes. She takes several deep breaths before speaking again, “So, I have the pillow to go with it in my room—”

 

“—Oh my god, I cannot believe you would spend time and money making this!” Jack interrupts, face bright red.

 

“So does this mean you’re not going to use it?”

 

“I never said that!” he clutches the pillow case close to his chest protectively, Juliet laughs again.

 

“I’m taking that as a thank you for the gift, now open your actual gift.” Juliet grins and pushes the larger box towards him.

 

Jack carefully folds the pillowcase back into the small box and places the lid back on it before moving on to the other box. He undo’s the ribbon and takes the lid off the box much quicker this time, and he grins when he moves the tissue paper back and sees what’s inside, “So that’s why you didn’t want me to get the jacket!” he exclaims, gently lifting the black jacket from the mannequin out of the box.

 

“Yes, though don’t get me wrong, it’s still hideous, but I knew you’d like it so there you go,” she shrugs, “There’s two more of those and a red one in my room, but, since I got you these, you have to get rid of the rest of your trench coats.”

 

“Aw, but I like them!” Jack whines, pulling on his new jacket to see how it fits.

 

“Jack, half of them are covered in oil, and the other half are just ratty,” she huffs, “I’m not going to let you run around in tattered and oil covered jackets now that you have some nicer ones.” She says seriously.

 

“I guess,” Jack sighs, shrugging off the jacket and folding it back up.

 

“We don’t have to get rid of them completely or anything, but maybe keep them in the lab, so you can wear those when you’re working instead of your new ones.” Juliet offers, she gets off her chair and walks over to the fridge, she digs around in the freezer for a few seconds before coming back with a large tub of ice cream, she grabs the scoop front the drawer next the fridge on her way back to the kitchen island.

 

“I guess that works,” he shrugs, watching her putter around the kitchen for a bit before coming back with a knife and a couple of plates.

 

“Cool, we don’t really have time today but we’ll figure it out later,” she cuts large slices of the cake, placing each slice on their own plate and passing one of them to Jack.

 

Jack eyes the cake once it’s passed to him, the three layers are each different colors of the bi pride flag, “Do you have to be super extra in literally everything you do?” he rolls his eyes, opening the ice cream tub and scooping a bunch onto his plate.

 

“Yes.” Juliet says simply, already eating her piece of cake.

 

“Fair enough,” he shrugs, they eat their cake in silence for a while, once Jack’s is gone he speaks again, “So, what’s the plan today?”

 

Juliet pulls out her phone and taps on it for a few seconds before answering, “We need to leave around one cause we’re meeting your grandmother at like 2pm, she wants to see us before the party as usual, and I sent your clothes over there so we’ll be getting ready there too.” Juliet explains, she picks up their empty plates and puts them with the rest of the dishes in the sink.

 

“Are you going to be done with your braids by then?” Jack asks, picking up the two boxes.

 

“Yeah, I’ve been doing them since like five, the only reason I haven’t finished yet is cause I had to keep stopping to check the cakes,” she puts the plastic lid on the cake and tucks it into the fridge, “I’ll come get you when it’s time to go.”

 

“Thanks Jewels.”

 

“No problem, Happy Birthday Ruby.” Juliet says, gathering up her braiding materials and moving to the living room.

 

Jack heads up to his room for a quick shower and to change into some simple clothes, he then goes to Juliet’s room to grab the rest of his presents. He gathers the three jackets placed neatly on the edge of her bed onto one arm and tucks the large black body pillow under his other arm, as he turns around he spots a new small bookshelf tucked between the dresser and the door to her closet and walks over to investigate. It’s full of bird books of varying sizes, each on a different species or variation, Jack shrugs and plucks one off the shelf before leaving the room. He leaves everything except for the book in a pile on his bed and toes on his boots before going to find Manna.

 

He finds him in the living room with Juliet, and whistles him over and puts him in repair mode before waving at Juliet and going down to the lab. Once there he sets Manna on one of the long metal tables and finally looks at the book tucked under his arm, he gawks at it and rushes back up the stairs to yell across the foyer at Juliet, “A Bone Eating Bearded Vulture Jewels?! Really?!”

 

He hears her laugh from the other room, “You can’t tell me it isn’t metal as fuck!” She calls back.

 

“I mean, obviously yeah but what about the cute ones?” He yells.

 

“Trust me, I have plenty of those, but for pure intimidation factor alone, I need that vulture!”

 

“Fine!” Jack yells before going back down to his lab, he opens the book and reads through it a bit for the basic sizes and colors of the bird before getting to work.

 

* * *

 

 

Three hours pass in a blur, Jack works steadily throughout that time to input the information for the new form into the preprogrammed sections of Manna’s original body, and is just about to do the first test when Juliet walks in the doors. Her braids are completely done, and fall just over the bottom of her ribcage, the extensions blending perfectly with her natural hair.

 

“You’re already done? Damn.” She whistles lowly and walks over to the table, looking over Manna’s unchanged metal from.

 

“Yeah, I just had to input the right information, I did all the work when I first built his body, any other birds just have to be manually inputted, like a character creator.” He shrugs, “I still need to input the mannerisms of this particular bird so that Manna can blend in with other vultures like this, but for now he at least looks the part.” he presses the manual on button on the side of the metal orb.

 

They watch Manna shift into his owl form quietly, once he’s finished Juliet speaks again, “Jesus, you really can do anything with robotics huh?” She mumbles this under her breath, but Jack hears it anyway and flushes.

 

“Let’s see how if it worked, Manna, Vulture.” Jack commands.

 

Manna blinks up at him, processing the command, before his body begins to shift. Both Jack and Juliet take a step back as his body grows larger and larger, finally stopping at close to three feet tall, black and white feathers cover his large body, and large wings flap as they form, knocking things off the tables around him. As the rest of the bird finalizes, the white feathers on its face and legs darken to a reddish orange. Finally, Manna blinks open his eyes, his red sclera and pale gold iris bringing the frightening look all together.

 

“Well, I’d say it worked,” Juliet says after a while of shocked silence, “Huh Manna? Who’s my scary boy?” She coos at Manna, totally unprepared for Manna to launch himself at her to try and sit on her shoulder, they go crashing into the floor.

 

“Manna, get off her, you’re too big to do what you usually do!” Jack scolds, waiting for him to move off Juliet before helping her up.

 

“He’ll figure it out,” Juliet says, dusting herself off and securing the strap of her bag on her shoulder before turning back to Manna, “Okay, time to go back to an owl buddy, we’re flying in the jet now.

 

Jack walks away to prep the jet while Manna shifts back, putting in the coordinates to the Spicer family mansion. Juliet joins him soon, a smaller Manna on her shoulder, and sets her bag on the floor next to her chair, “You know you don’t need to bring that right? It’s my grandmother, you know she has everything you could ever need.”

 

“It never hurts to be prepared.” Juliet shrugs, strapping the harness across her chest.

 

“If you say so.” Jack rolls his eyes, he takes hold of the wheel and shoots them out of the bay doors.

 

They chat back and forth about the necessity of bringing the beauty items you’re used to verses using new stuff, but that trails off after a while and they ride the rest of the way in companionable silence. Soon the area turns familiar, and Jack slows the jet as they approach the ornate mansion ahead. He and Juliet shiver as they pass through the invisible barrier to land in the open field behind the mansion, just within the gates surrounding the property. They exit the jet quickly, and spot the groundskeeper walking towards them with a grin.

 

“Hello young sir and miss, the Madame is waiting for you in the blue parlor.” He calls in accented english, Juliet smiles and thanks him in quiet French as they pass. They make their way into the mansion, passing busy staff and workers preparing for the gala later this evening as they weave through familiar halls and towards the parlor the groundskeeper told them to go to.

 

As the name implies, this parlor is blue. IT practically screams opulence as all the parlors in this house do, with rich blue wallpaper that cover the walls, blue tinted wood furniture and antique blue couches, even the Knick knacks and picture frames are various shades of blue. The only non-blue thing in the room is the plush white carpet, through most of that is covered by ornate blue rugs. Inside the room is the only other thing not covered in blue, Adelia Spicer sits gracefully on one of the antique couches, back perfectly straight and head held high. She smiles when she sees them enter, and stands gracefully to greet them.

 

“Jack, mon lapin, it is so good to see you,” she coos, her accented voice soft and fond. She pulls him close into a tight hug, and he returns it gladly, she pulls back to look at him, “ah, you have been getting stronger, I suspect the change is due to mon trésor d'argent, no?” she looks over his shoulder at Juliet fondly.

 

“I’ll take the credit, if you’re offering.” Juliet grins, approaching them for her own hug.

 

She wraps Juliet in her arms for an equally warm hug, “But of course, you help each other, it is what makes you the perfect pair.” she says matter-of-factly. She steps back, gesturing for them to take a seat before taking her own, she smooths the skirt of her simple black dress and tucks an invisible hair back into her perfectly coiffed silver hair.

 

“How have you been grandmother?” Jack asks, crossing his legs at the knee and making sure to keep his posture straight.

 

“Oh, you know how it is, there is always something that needs to be handled, deals to be made and such,” she smiles, moving on to another subject quickly, “How have your, what do you call them? Shen Gong Wu searches been going?”

 

Juliet answers before he can, “He just won five at once last week,” she shares a smile with his grandmother.

 

“But, I couldn’t have done it without Juliet, she rigged the game to how she knew I would react!” Jack adds quickly.

 

Adelia smiles proudly, “Ah, you two. Working together for the forces of evil, you make your grandmother proud,” she sighs wistfully, “While I do my best to help our forces here in the modern world, you two are helping up gain power directly.” she tears up a little, smile still wide on her face.

 

Juliet stands to join Adelia on the couch and passes her a silk handkerchief from, somewhere, she waits for her to collect herself before speaking, “You do more than enough, grandmother.” she soothes.

 

“Yeah, I wouldn’t have even known where to start without you!” Jack insists, joining them on one couch.

 

“Thank you, you’ll have to forgive me, I do so miss my younger days. I was so certain your mother would turn you against the side of evil after she married that man, and to have you here on your family’s side brings me such joy.” She says, Jack and Juliet share a slightly awkward look over her head, both used to this topic.

 

“Grandmother, I wanted to tell you about my latest robot!” Jack exclaims, desperate to change the subject.

 

“Oh, of course mon lapin, what is it?” she asks, easily distracted from her memories.

 

Jack gestures at Juliet, who moves Manna off her shoulder and whistles a high note at him. Manna takes to the air, gliding over their heads as an owl for a few loops before shifting seamlessly into a raven. Adelia gasps with delight at the sight and Jack grins, excited for her reaction to Manna’s latest from. He and Juliet wait with bated breath as Manna makes another few loops, suddenly his body grows and in a blink, he’s in his vulture form. Adelia gasps again, and stares in awe as Manna immediately lands on the empty couch to the right of them, suddenly too big to fly around the room.

 

“His name is Manna, Jack made him for me to help and protect me when we’re out Wu hunting. The bearded vulture is his newest form, so he’s not quite used to it yet, but isn’t it amazing? “Juliet explains, she shares a grin with jack what Adelia stares at Manna.

 

She takes a long moment to respond, “It seemed I was right to invite those men tonight.” she says softly, a smile forming slowly on her face.

 

“What men?” Jack asks.

 

“I invited men from many robotics and technology companies to speak with you today, it would be good for you to make connections with powerful people to help you along your way,” she stands and walks over to Manna, she reaches out to touch the feathers on his head softly, “and now I know you will be able to make yourself invaluable to them with ease,” her voice rings with pride,  “But enough of that, you two need to go get ready for the gala, I have staff available to help in your rooms you whenever you call, I have to go help prepare but I will see you tonight.” she explains, leaning down to press a kiss to their cheeks, Jack opens his mouth to ask more questions but hesitates at the excited look on her face. They watch her leave in silence.

 

Juliet whistles at Manna, “Well, we should go up to our rooms.” she says, picking up a now owl Manna and picking up her bag.

 

Jack nods and follows behind her quietly until they’re in their shared room, “What am I going to do?”

 

“Just be yourself, you know more than anyone else about robotics, they’ll be begging you to join them within five minutes,” Juliet says, putting Manna and her bag down on the bed and wandering into the large closet, she comes back with a silk pink robe on over her clothes, grinning, “Did I mention I love your grandma?” she says, petting the soft pink down that surrounds the ends of the sleeves and goes around her neck.

 

“Jewels this is serious!” Jack exclaims.

 

“Okay okay fine, one sec,” She goes back into the closet and comes back out a few moments later, identical robe on except in black with pink down instead, “Serious.” she grins, perching on the end of the bed.

 

“Jewels!” Jack groans, laughing despite himself with his head in his hands.

 

“Honestly Jack, don’t stress so much, if there’s anything you know better than anyone else, it’s tech. I mean, you built a time machine when you were like, fourteen. So, I think you’ve got this in the bag.” she says confidently.

 

“Yeah, you’re right, I just wish this wasn’t sprung on me all the sudden. I could have actually been prepared if I’d known before we got here.” he lifts his head out of his hands and watches Juliet as she goes back into the closet and comes back with two garment bags which she lays across the bed before speaking.

 

“Yeah, it isn’t the best situation, but you can do this Jack,” she walks over and puts a hand on his shoulder, “Now, chin up, I’m going to call the staff to come up and do our nails and make you actually get ready while I do my own thing. It’s going to be alright, I promise okay?” she finishes seriously, squeezing his shoulder gently before stepping back.

 

“Okay, at least one of us knows what they’re doing.” he says, standing up and stretching while Juliet goes over to press a button by the door.

 

Time to get ready for whatever the night brings.

 

* * *

 

 

After several hours of what Jack would call torture and Juliet would call pampering, it’s time for the Annual Spicer Gala. His nails have been filed down and gone over with clear paint, and his hands are soft from whatever the two staff that helped them put on it. After they left Juliet ushered him into a chair and outlined his eyes with subtle eyeshadow and sharp winged eyeliner to match her own before sending him out of the bathroom to get dressed. He’s now dressed in a black suit, with a dark red shirt and a thin silver tie. His feet are bare, and he digs his toes in the plush carpet while he waits for Juliet.

 

She strides out of the bathroom a few minutes later, in a two-piece black dress, the top is long sleeved and lace, while the bottom is floor length black without any designs. She walks over to him with a pair of silver pumps dangling from their straps in her hand, she sits next to him to pull them on, and Jack sees the pinkish tan of her eyeshadow under sharp points of eyeliner and the red lipstick on her lips that matches the color of his shirt. Once her shoes are on she stands, she gestures towards his own black leather dress shoes and heads back to the bathroom, the click of her heels trailing behind her.

 

He stands and quickly toes on his socks and shoes, sitting back down to wait for her to come back. She returns a few minutes later, braids decorated with ornate silver beads and braided silver thread. She checks her makeup in a small mirror in her hands before tucking it into the black clutch in her other hand.

 

“Time to go Ruby.” she says finally, looking up at him with a smile.

 

He sighs, “do we really have to go?” he asks even as he walks to the door.

 

“Yes darling, you don’t want to disappoint your grandmother.” she says, she whistles lowly and waits for Manna to shift into a raven before holding out her arm for him to perch on.

 

Jack grumbles under his breath but follows Juliet when she exits the room. The workers are gone from the hallways, and the house looks as ornate as ever, but Jack supposes that’s the point, even if he can’t really see the difference in it all. They stop at a large door, two staff members stand in front of it, waiting for them to step forward to open the doors.

 

“Now or never Jack, and never isn’t really an option.” Juliet whispers as she tucks a hand into the crook of his elbow, Manna shifts to her opposite shoulder and caws at the two men at the door when they stare.

 

Jack shifts his arm into the proper position for her to hold, “Alright, let’s do this.” Jack sighs, walking forward with Juliet on his arm and into a night sure to be filled with suffering.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Juliet's Dress: [Here](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/VOvDBjeUP7Q/hqdefault.jpg)  
> Jack's Suit: [Here](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b0/0d/a2/b00da2191935db04ef65ad363882b785.jpg)
> 
> Jack's Jacket: [Here](http://www.devilnight.co.uk/1760-6546-thickbox/black-army-style-gothic-coat-for-men.jpg)  
> Cake inspiration: [Here](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/e9/53/a0/e953a07832d2d73d15aa29d7e56709b8--purple-cakes-birthday-elegant-birthday-cakes.jpg)
> 
> Juliet's braid reference: [Here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rf71hA55d_k)  
> Juliet make up reference: [Here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLEpJdL8LEk&list=PL33vOesfde2UFzJFcDOFyM-_Zlhv5jv0W&index=20)
> 
> Let me know what you think, all the response from the last chapter was really nice and helped me so much to get this chapter out on time! Thank you all so much!


	7. Spicer Family Gala

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this has taken a ridiculously long time to get out. I'm super super sorry for the wait, I've been struggling with working up the motivation to finish the half a chapter I had written for months.
> 
> You can thank my new beta reader for giving me the boost to get this out, you can find her on her Tumblr [Here](https://comfortably-chaotic-mind.tumblr.com/) and on her Ao3 [Here](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadow_hunter93/pseuds/Shadow_hunter93)
> 
> There's a couple warnings down at the bottom notes, check those before reading if you need to!

The annual Spicer Family Gala is nothing if not predictable.

 

Sure, on the surface things change every year. The ballroom is draped in different finery, the styles of dress of the guests change, and even the guests themselves are different each year. But tradition calls for certain expectations, the Hierarchy of Colors is one of them, along with the more corrupt business partners and investors that weave unseen through the crowds of more reputable guests. 

 

Jack stands in the center of some of the slimier investors, eyeing the varying shades of dark and light gray suits with carefully hidden disdain. Juliet hangs on his arm, with Manna perched on her shoulder she’s even more radiant and intimidating than usual, her presence helps weed out the unsuitable, anyone that eyes her with disgust or shrinks under the intensity of her gaze is removed from his internal list of prospects. The crowd is thinning slowly, and the small clutch in Juliet’s hand is already filled with business cards to be sorted through later. 

 

The moment he and Juliet had entered the ballroom they had been swarmed by these men, all vying for the attention of the next heir of the Spicer family. Jack knows many of these men aren’t worth his time, that they are circling him for scraps of his prestige to add their names to, the real prospects will need to be impressed first before they approach him. Such is the norm since he turned sixteen, he hasn’t given much care for this game in the years since then, perhaps this year he  _ should _ , add this to the list of changes to better himself.

 

He’s speaking to the last of the group when he feels Juliet slip away, the man in front of him doesn’t even notice, too absorbed in his exuberant explanation of his company’s many virtues, Jack keeps his expression carefully blank. He searches for Juliet out of the corner of his eye, and watches her exit the ballroom after saying something to the staff at the door, he holds back a sigh and returns his attention to the man in front of him, light gray suit and a white tie, figures. 

 

Jack spots Juliet’s return soon after, leading the way for a group of people to the other side of the ballroom, he nods a polite goodbye to the man before turning and walking towards her. He ignores the people next to her until he’s halfway to them, and his stride falters for a moment, eyes widening in recognition, before continuing as if nothing had happened.

 

Once he reaches the group he slides an arm around Juliet’s waist casually and pulls her close, “Why do you do this to me?” he sighs, eyeing the people in front of them.

 

The Xiaolin Monks stand in front of him, dressed far fancier than he has ever seen them, obviously Juliet’s handiwork. The boys are all dressed nearly identically in matching white suits, each with a matching tie and pocket square in varying pastel colors for each of them; blue for Omi, yellow for Clay, and green for Raimundo. Clay has also been gifted with a brand new matching cowboy hat for the occasion. Juliet seems to have gone all out on Kimiko, the elaborate updo and makeup are likely Kimiko’s doing, but the pale pink halter dress and glittery silver earrings are all Juliet’s doing, probably the shoes as well.

 

“Oh, Ruby, this isn’t even the worst part.” her smile is wide and pleasant, but the glint in her eyes sends a shiver of fear down his spine.

 

“Fuck, what have you done now?” he  complains, though his voice and expression shows nothing but fond amusement, he knows she understands his real meaning. 

 

Juliet laughs and pats the side of his face gently, her gaze then turns towards the doors and she grins, “Speaking of, be right back, don’t kill each other while I’m gone.” she instructs before breezing away. 

 

He watches her go warily, but eventually turns back to the monks begrudgingly, “Welcome to the Spicer Family Gala, it is an honor to have you.” he says the practiced greeting robotically, fighting the urge to roll his eyes as they gawk openly at him.

 

Kimiko speaks first, shaking herself out of her stupor quickly, “Jack, is that really you?” she asks cautiously, eyeing him with disbelief.

 

He sighs, actually rolling his eyes now, “Jesus, a guy changes his outfit and fancies up his hair and suddenly he’s unrecognisable,” he searches the area around them for a waiter carrying a tray of champagne, “Yes, losers, of course it’s me. You think I could wear a trench coat to a party like this?” he returns his attention back to them when he can’t find a waiter.

 

Kimiko flushes with embarrassment, “Sorry, it’s just, uh—”

 

“Jack Spicer! You looks so different! Almost like an actual adversary!” Omi exclaims over Kimiko, grinning brightly.

 

Jack’s eye twitches, and he takes a deep breath to calm his irritation, this isn’t the place for his usual interactions with the monks. He opens his mouth to reply somehow when Juliet returns, “Children, did you all behave while I was gone?” she calls to them, leading the way for two more people. Jack turns to see who she brought this time, and freezes.

 

Oh no.

 

Chase Young and Wuya trail behind her, dressed more modernly than Jack has ever seen them, they gaze idly around the ballroom with matching bored expressions. Juliet has clearly played a role in their outfits as well, Wuya draws several stares with her deep purple dress that fades into a lighter purple and then white towards the bottom, but that’s not what draws their eye he bets, if the deep V showing off a large amount of cleavage at her front is any indication. She seems to be relishing in the attention, for all that her face doesn’t show it, walking confidently and allowing the billowy skirt of her dress to draw people's attention towards her as they have to step out of her way.

 

Chase on the other hand, he can barely look at Chase. He’s ridiculously pretty as always, but the custom tailored dark green three piece suit makes it more obvious than usual. Jack’s not sure if it’s the shock of seeing him outside of his armor or the surreality of seeing him blending into a modern situation that does it, and his eyes linger on the brightly patterned gold tie for too long before he catches himself. For the sake of not being the most obvious person in the world for once, he looks away after only a moment of staring and locks eyes with Juliet. Juliet has absolutely outdone herself with Chase, and she clearly knows it by the smug look on her face. She flashes him a grin and he glares at her as much as he can, which isn’t much but he knows she understands.

 

Juliet reaches him first, and he slides an arm around her waist instinctively before whispering into her ear, “Why did you think this was a good idea?” he allows a bit of a whine into his question, none of the snooty business types around him can hear him anyway.

 

“It seemed like an interesting plot device” She shrugs, grinning brightly as Chase and Wuya join the group.

 

“What?”

 

“Hm? Oh nothing, Ruby, say hello to your new guests.” Juliet ignores his question, gesturing to the two next to her. 

 

Jack holds back a groan of frustration, “Welcome to the Spicer Family Gala, it is an honor to have you.” he repeats the greeting to them, face flushing a bit in embarrassment.

 

“Jack, I didn’t know you had it in you.” Wuya laughs, he doesn’t like the way she’s looking at him, like she’s already planning a way to use this against him.

 

“Can we not do this again? Yes, I put on a suit and have to play this silly little power game with a bunch of strangers, can we move on now?” Jack says through his teeth, he quickly smooths his expression back into the polite neutral mask he was taught, he can’t let these people ruin this for him.

 

Silence stretches between the group, quickly growing awkward, but Jack ignores it to continue his search for alcohol of any kind. He hears Juliet make a strange trilling sound in the back of her throat, and when he glances over at her he notices the waiter that has materialised at her side, a full tray of champagne held out for them, Juliet smiles and plucks two flutes off the tray and passes one to him. Jack eyes the strawberry, carefully cut into the shape of a rose, floating in the bubbly pink liquid before shrugging and taking a long sip, it bumps against his lips as he tilts the glass, and Jack focuses on the bright red of the berry for a long moment after he finishes his sip before finally returning his attention back to the people around him. 

 

Juliet has passed drinks around the group, and is eyeing Omi carefully with an arm half outstretched towards him, Jack rolls his eyes, “Jewels, he’s not actually a kid.” he points out, amusement heavy in his voice, “Sure, he’s still a small fry, but we’ve been doing this Wu thing for, like, ten years? Even if he was eight when this started, he’s technically a legal adult.” he snickers at the dubious look in Juliet’s eyes.

 

“You can have one, and if you don’t like it you don’t have to drink it.” she tells Omi, passing him the glass and, watching him carefully as he takes a tentative sip from it and immediately pulls a face of disgust. Juliet laughs and takes the glass back, she places it back on the tray and whispers something to the waiter, who nods and leaves with a flourish. 

 

“Don’t worry about it, cheese ball, they have other drinks here.” Jack smirks, taking a small sip of his drink to avoid the instinctual urge to add something harsher to the end of his sentence. He glances around the room idly over the rim of his glass, eyes searching for a flash of black in the sea of pastel gowns and varying colors of gray suits, “So, I’m sure you have questions.” he says after a long moment of silence.

 

“Yeah, an explanation would be nice, your girl here just sent us this ridiculous invitation and clothes.” Raimundo complains, Kimiko elbows him in the ribs before smiling apologetically at Juliet.

Jack rolls his eyes, “Like I said earlier, this is the annual Spicer Family Gala. The short explanation is that it’s a business meeting disguised as a fancy party for the Spicer family to make, ah, less than reputable business connections with any sort of company they choose without the more goody two shoes types realizing,” Jack takes a long sip from his champagne, glancing around their group to make sure no one is lingering around to overhear them, “The long version is a little more complicated, and I’m not really in the mood to give you a full rundown of my family history.” He finishes, locking eyes with a man in a dark gray suit and amber tie over Wuya’s shoulder that hovers a bit too close to their group and is eyeing Wuya with hungry eyes, Jack glares at the man until he turns on his heel and walks away, best to keep any extra attention to a minimum.

 

Juliet continues for him after a beat of silence, “You can tell any guest's status by the color of their clothing, Grandmother calls it the Hierarchy of Colors. Any suits or dresses you see that are gray are people here to make business deals, light gray is for the lighter sided individuals, and dark gray is for the darker end of the spectrum. Fully gray is for the boss or company head, but if you see someone with a splash of color with their gray, it means they’re an employee or lackey for someone more important. Sometimes, if a company head is particularly uppity or important, they’ll have the company logos stitched somewhere on the employee’s colored item.” Juliet pauses as a group of giggling women in matching pastel gowns pass them, smiling politely as their eyes linger on their group, “Even regular guests are color coded, take Puff the Magic Dragon here,” She gestures towards Chase, Jack represses the urge to scream, “he and Wuya are Heylin, but they aren’t here to make a business deal, so they wear dark colors. You’ve all been given pastels and whites because you’re Xiaolin, therefore people of a darker mindset won’t typically approach you, and even if they do there are certain topics they won’t bring up in your presence because you likely wouldn’t react well. Black is for those affiliated with the Spicer family, the staff wears solid black, while those in the main family add red into their clothes to show their higher rank. Since the Hierarchy of Colors has been part of this Gala for years, most guests just assume it’s a stylistic choice born from tradition and go along with it.” Juliet shrugs, Jack notices the waiter from before approaching with a violently purple and glittery drink on a tray, he nudges her gently with his elbow to get her attention and inclines his head towards the approaching man.

As Juliet turns to accept the drink from the waiter Clay speaks up, “But why go through all that fuss? I reckon that’s a whole lotta trouble for one party.”

 

“Well, it has to do with the Spicer family image, which would take too long to explain fully, and honestly I don’t like or trust any of you enough to tell it.” Jack waits until the waiter leaves before continuing, eyeing the bright drink Juliet passes to Omi with mild disgust, “To put it simply; Heylin and Xiaolin are very old sides, and most people these days don’t even know they exist. However, there’s always good and evil in the world, so people settle into their roles accordingly outside of the more traditional sides,” Jack pauses to take a long sip from his drink, once again glancing past their group carefully to make sure no one is listening in, “The Spicer Family has been a large player in a lot of modern evil for generations, but to anyone outside of those circles we’re just an old, influential family. To keep up that image we have to be careful about who knows what, if people suspect you have bad intentions it’s harder to get what you want out of them.” He shrugs, the monks all look surprised at his serious expression, and Wuya considers him with a strange look on her face, he chooses not to look at Chase.

 

Silence stretches uncomfortably around them for a long moment, during the quiet Omi sips loudly from his purple monstrosity of a drink, Kimiko clears her throat softly before speaking up, “So, what else usually goes on at these parties?” She asks awkwardly. 

 

“It’s pretty much just the talking thing, honestly, sometimes there are people brave enough to start a dance, but for the most part we all just act entertained by the people around us and drink,” Juliet shrugs, “there’s a food table somewhere around here as well, if you’re in the mood for fancy finger foods.”

 

“With this many of the so called elite around, I’m surprised you don’t get attacked or robbed every year,” Wuya muses, looking around the room idly, “it certainly wouldn’t be difficult.”

 

Juliet laughs, she too looks around to make sure no one is listening in before she speaks, “Oh no, gorgeous, just about everyone here is armed in some way, even the staff have some sort of weapon on them.” Juliet chuckles again at the shocked looks the monks give her.

 

“Wait, everyone? Even you two?” Kimiko whispers sharply.

 

“Yeah of course, we can't just rely on the wards around the place to keep us safe, and knowing that ninety percent of the dark suits here have guns means you have to be ready for anything.” Jack shrugs, that’s just the way the Gala is, he can admit the gun strapped to his chest underneath his suit jacket isn’t a familiar or particularly comfortable accessory, but it serves its purpose. 

 

“Honestly, Kimiko, if you don’t think I have a gun in a fancy holster on my thigh like some sort of super spy then we haven’t spent enough time together.” Juliet rolls her eyes, her casual dismissal seems to calm the monks, and Jack waits for them to relax fully before speaking up.

 

“Besides, it’s not like anyone's actually used one at the Gala for years, it upsets the goody-goody types too much, and causing a scene is only profitable if it impresses the right people,” Jack shares an amused look with Juliet, “we try to keep as low a profile as possible at these things, pretty much all guests are ready to take advantage of anything they can when it comes to me or my family.” Jack shrugs again, and lets that sink in for a moment of silence.

 

After a few beats of quiet Juliet speaks up, a glint of mischief in her eyes, “Besides, gun or no gun I’ve never done anything to draw too much attention to myself at one of these things.” Juliet says convincingly, though the amused tremor in her voice gives the truth away.

Jack turns very slowly to look at her, Juliet doesn’t turn to look at him, but he can see the mischievous twist in the corner of her smile, “When we were ten you  _ stabbed _ a guy for saying my eyes were weird.” he wishes he could yell, that was really a sentence that deserved to be yelled, damned Galas.

“I was defending your honor!”

“By  _ stabbing _ a guy.”

“Obviously, he shouldn’t have been such a dick to a kid.”

“Need I remind you, you were also a kid at the time?”

“Regardless—”

“What do you mean  _ regardless _ —”

Their bickering is cut off by a soft clearing of the throat from beside them, Jack and Juliet turn in unison towards the sound and find Adelia Spicer standing a polite distance away from their group, dressed regally in a flowing black gown, her elegant ruby necklace glinting in the light of the ballroom. Her expression is stern, but her eyes shine with mirth at their bickering, “Now, children, you two wouldn’t be arguing would you?” She tuts disapprovingly as she approaches their group.

 

“Of course not, Grandmother.” He and Juliet say in unison, wearing matching sweet smiles and wide, innocent eyes. Behind them the monks unsuccessfully try to suppress their laughter, though luckily they keep mostly quiet. The noise draws his grandmother’s attention though, and soon it’s the monks pinned under her shrewd gaze, and they all freeze instinctively before putting on innocent expressions of their own.

 

“Juliet, dearest, why don’t you introduce me to your guests?” Adelia instructs, smiling politely at the monks, and eyeing both Chase and Wuya with open interest.

 

“Of course grandmother, these are the monks of the Xiaolin temple; Kimiko, Clay, Omi, and Raimundo. They are the dragons of fire, earth, water, and wind respectively,” Juliet explains, gesturing to each monk as she introduces them, they each give Adelia a polite smile, visibly uncomfortable under her unwavering gaze. Jack can't really blame them, his grandmother can be very intense when she wants to be.

 

Juliet turns slightly to face Chase and Wuya, and Adelia’s sharp gaze softens into a carefully curious expression, Jack sees Wuya grin at the obvious shift in tone, and can't help his own smirk behind the rim of his glass, “and this is Chase Young; Heylin Dragon Lord, and his occasional ally the Heylin Witch Wuya.” Chase offers his grandmother a respectful nod of his head, and Wuya flashes her most charming smile.

 

Jack and Juliet both cover their grins behind their glasses as Adelia lights up with obvious delight, her cheeks flush with excitement as her usual regal demeanor shifts into that of an excited schoolgirl. She grins brightly as she approaches Chase and Wuya, taking each of their hands in her own before speaking, “Oh it is so wonderful to meet such legendary figures of Heylin! Jack has always been so hesitant to introduce you to me, but I knew when Juliet asked to invite a few guests thats she was planning something like this!” she turns to give Juliet a wink, “Always up to something, aren’t you, darling?” Juliet returns her wink, grinning at the bewildered looks on Chase and Wuya’s faces.

 

“Would you expect anything less?” Juliet croons, her grin widening at the flat look Jack sends her way.

 

“Of course not, you’re the biggest meddler I know.” Jack complains. Juliet grins and opens her mouth to tease him further before Adelia cuts them off.

 

“None of that now, you two, as charming as it is, we are at the Gala, and you two do need to be setting an example.” she chides before turning back to Chase and Wuya, “Oh I have so many things I’d like to ask you―”

 

A woman dressed in the simple black suit of the Spicer family security officers approaches Adelia, interrupting her from speaking any further. She leans in close to whisper into her ear, and waits for Adelia’s nod to turn and leave, blending back into the crowd as soon as she’s out of sight. Jack frowns after her, “Is something wrong, grandmother?”

 

“Oh no, dear, there was a minor problem with the wards earlier, seems something set them off and caused them to reset for a moment, but everything is back to normal now.” She assures him, waving a hand idly.

 

“What wards?” Kimiko asks hesitantly, “Jack mentioned them in passing earlier, but what do they actually do?”

 

“To put it simply: they keep the mansion safe. The wards were placed long ago by my ancestors to keep any malicious intruders out, they’re based off intent and with peers such as ours you cannot be too careful, you know.” Adelia answers.

 

“But, Madam Spicer, do you not need magic to set up wards?” Omi asks curiously, a spot of purple glitter on the corner of his mouth.

 

Adelia chuckles and pulls a neat black handkerchief from the clutch purse in her hands, she leans forward to wipe at the mess on Omis face before answering, rolling her eyes at the small sound of protest Omi makes, “Well of course, Omi, was it? The Spicer family is a proud lineage, and we can trace our ancestry back to several powerful witches throughout the generations. In fact, if my great grandmother is to be believed, our lineage was started by a Heylin witch long ago, though of course, it’s impossible to know exactly who it was,” she explains, taking the empty glass from Omi’s hands and placing both it and her soiled handkerchief on a passing waiters tray, “so setting up magical warding would have been a simple task to the matriarch that built this place.”

 

Juliet nudges Jack in the side and leans in closer to whisper in his ear, “This is why you listen to your grandmother when she’s telling her stories, there’s your ability to use Wu right there.” Jack allows himself a moment of childishness to stick his tongue out at her, but he knows she’s right.

 

“Anyway, there shouldn’t be any problems, I wouldn’t worry about anything, dear.” Adelia smiles reassuringly at their group. 

 

Suddenly the ground underneath them begins to sway ever so slightly, the once solid wood paneling beginning to roll like tiny waves of water under their feet. Apparently there will be problems after all. Juliet grabs his arm to keep him steady, and loops her other arm with his grandmother's as their group collectively turns to look around the ballroom, trying to find where the oddity is coming from. The wall on the far side of the room where the ballroom is connected to the rest of the mansion rolls like the floor, subtle enough to be missed by most of the guests for now.

 

Jack shares a look with Juliet, and she nods before releasing his arm and passing him Manna. He wobbles awkwardly in Jack’s palm, claws carefully gripping the edge of his hand before Jack lifts him up to his shoulder for a more steady perch, “We need to stay here for now, there's too many people here that could cause a scene and ruin our chances of getting to whatever Wu is causing this,” he says lowly to the others, he waits for them to nod seriously before he continues, “Juliet and my grandmother can handle getting everyone out of here, let's just play it cool for now and hope no one notices anything weird.” He finishes as Juliet walks away from their group, her arm still looped with Adelia’s as they glide through the unsuspecting guests to the small stage on the far side of the room.

 

“I can feel Dojo shaking like leaf in a hurricane, but I reckon this isn't the best place to ask him what we're dealin with,” Clay drawls, casually placing a hand on his hat to try and hide how it shakes.

 

Jack nods, “Yeah, these people will overlook a lot but a talking reptile isn't one of those things. Let's wait until we can get away from this crowd before we do any obvious magic stuff.” He says, glancing around the group to make sure that they all agree. Behind them there's the soft sound of speakers being turned on followed by the muffled taps of someone checking a microphone, they all turn with the other guests at the noise to see Juliet and his grandmother standing together on the stage.

 

“If I could have everyone's attention please, there's been a minor problem,” Juliet begins, voice ringing out through the ballroom and gaining the attention of all other guests.

 

Two men in dark gray suits stand in front of their group, from the way they hold themselves Jack can tell that they’re from one of the more influential companies, all quiet confidence and self-assured relaxation. They look bored and one nudges the other with an elbow, scoffing when Juliet begins to speak, Jack finds himself focusing in on those two, protective instincts flaring up at their obvious disrespect. 

 

“Who let the heir’s arm candy up there?” The one who nudged the other says, voice mocking. 

 

“Really, you'd think they'd get someone a bit more important up there to talk to the rest of us, not some bimbo that's been clinging to Lady Spicer’s  grandson all night.” 

Jack feels his eye twitch, and his hand tightens dangerously on the thin stem of his champagne glass before he sets it on a passing waiter’s tray. He can feel the monks shifting anxiously behind him, and distantly registers the small scuffle behind him and the hissed whispers for Omi to calm down. 

 

“Why not get the heir himself up there? Boss alone is too important to be listening to some dumb ni-" That's it.

 

Jack's body moves without his conscious thought, Manna's claws dig sharply into his shoulder as he darts forward to grab the man by his upper arm, spinning him around to face him as he slips a hand inside his jacket. He watches the man's face pale at the sight of him before Jack yanks him closer and partly off his feet by the knot of his tie, forcing him to balance on his toes. Distantly Jack's mind registers the color and he lets go of his last bit of restraint at the realization that this is just someone's lackey. Jack allows his calm mask to slip away, and presses the muzzle of his gun hard into the man's ribs, he watches with glee as the man pales further before he speaks, “Would you like to repeat that?” He says lowly, around him the ballroom has gone silent, and when he glances up he sees Juliet staring back at him from across the room, her eyes are wide with surprise, her gaze has drawn the eyes of the other guests in the room. Oh well, he'll deal with that in a moment. 

 

“M- mr. Spicer, I-" the man stutters, shaking and obviously caught off guard by his appearance, Jack carefully keeps his finger off the trigger, he doesn’t actually want to kill this bastard, just scare him.

 

“Quiet. I think you've said enough, hm?” Jack snaps, cutting the man off mid stuttering sentence, “I believe you owe someone an apology, however there are more important matters to discuss as of right now.” he feels Manna shift on his shoulder and whistles sharply to tell him to change shape. 

 

Manna glides off his shoulder with a quick flap of his wings and circles the ballroom ceiling twice in his raven form, the guests below gasp in shock and awe as he soars above them, but it turns to gasps of horror as Manna’s form begins to shift from a raven into something much larger. When Manna settles into the form of a Bone Eating Bearded Vulture a woman screams, Jack rolls his eyes in the man's face as he begins to visibly shake in fear. Guests scramble out of the way as Manna begins his decent in slow circles over their heads, he finally lands at Jacks feet and, with wings spread out, bows low. 

 

Jack feels the corner of his mouth twitch, Juliet must have taught Manna a few tricks, “Now,” Jack begins as Manna straightens back up into a more typical bird stance, “If you would all be so kind as to return your attention to Ms. Celandine, we can continue our evening.” The guests all shuffle quietly back around to look at Juliet, who after a small pause continues her explanations for why they need to move the Gala to the gardens. Jack does not release his hold on the man's tie, and watches his partner with cold eyes until he too turns to pay attention. 

 

Soon all the guests are making their way out of the ballroom, none of them aware of the odd swaying of the floor that has become more obvious as the minutes passed. Juliet and his grandmother weave through the exiting guests and staff on the way back over to their group, his grandmother untucks Juliet's hand from her elbow and pats her cheek fondly before nodding at Jack with a proud look in her eyes, then she turns to follow the rest of the crowd outside.

 

Juliet eyes the man still caught in Jack’s grip, “And what did he do for you to cause such a scene?” She asks with a raised eyebrow.

 

Jack smirks, “Jewels, if you're allowed to defend my honor, then I'm allowed to defend yours.” Juliet's eyes fill with understanding and she nods. 

 

A man clears his throat from beside them as he approaches in a dark gray suit, his matching tie bearing a pin with the same symbol as the one under Jack's thumb and on the one hovering near their group, he's clearly their boss. He's young for the head of a company, maybe in his early thirties, with pale blond hair and a serious expression. 

 

“Pardon the intrusion, Mr. Spicer, Ms. Celandine,” he eyes his employee with open disdain as Jack let's him go, tucking his gun back into its holster “Richmond Foley, of Foley Robotics and Innovations. My apologies for my associate, whatever his offense, I hope it will not affect your opinion of my company.” He watches as the man stutters out a quick apology to Juliet before he goes to stand next to his partner. Mr. Foley nods at his employees, and they practically run out of the ballroom after the other guests, “I can assure you, they will no longer be a part of my company after tonight.” He continues.

 

“Your apology is appreciated, however we have a more pressing matter to attend to at this time, if you wouldn't mind.” Jack replies as politely as he can muster, Foley Robotics is big, he can't afford to piss this man off.

 

“Of course, Mr. Spicer, however, I would like to speak with you before the night's end,” Mr. Foley watches Manna intently as he shifts back into raven form and flutters back up to Juliet's shoulder, “I believe you and I have much to discuss.” He continues, watching Manna for another long moment before nodding to Jack and leaving with the rest of the guests.

 

Jack waits until the last guest has left, and the doors have been closed, to breathe a sigh of relief, “Alright, now we can get back to the Wu-” Jack begins as he turns back to their group, only to stop at the various surprised looks the others are giving him, “What are you all looking at? We don't have time for this!” he exclaims, finally able to act like himself now that none of the regular guests can hear him.

 

The Monks all nod seriously, and Clay takes off his hat to pull out a shaking, twitchy Dojo and the Shen Gong Wu scroll, “L-looks like we’re dealing with the M-mirror’s Guide. It distorts the reality around itself into a maze, where those that wander it have to find the center, along with a guide. The g-guide is made up of parts of yourself, and as it guides you t-through the maze it will also guide you towards u-understanding whatever you seek inside yourself. It's good for finding yourself, or j-just for confusing enemies.” Dojo explains, teeth chattering as he shakes.

 

“Well if it's here, that probably means it's a family heirloom or something, which means it belongs to my family and I plan on keeping it that way.” Jack says, making his way towards the doors that connects the ballroom to the rest of the mansion, “It's this way right?” He asks before opening the door.

 

“Right, e-everyone needs to stick together, or else it will be way harder to find the c-center.” Dojo instructs as Jack opens the doors.

 

The mansion they walk into is far different from the one Jack and Juliet had entered earlier that day. The walls twist and sway like molten gold, the paintings in their frames melting and twisting like the walls. The ceiling has disappeared above them, now only a shimmering white light with golden specs, an endlessly shifting galaxy bathing the hallway in an erie mist of white and gold. Jack draws Juliet close to his side as the rest of the group enters the hallway, he can feel her flinch when the door shuts with a sharp click. 

 

“T-the maze will try and separate us, s-so stay close to at least one other person. This is going to get w-weird pretty soon.” Dojo instructs, shaking wildly on Clay’s shoulders.

 

“You two know this place best, right? So which way should we go first?” Raimundo asks, undoing his tie to wrap it around his wrist and Kimiko’s to bind them together, behind him Clay does the same with Omi and Omi takes Kimiko's other hand.

 

Juliet looks around the distorted hallway before nodding cautiously, “Technically yes, we do know this place best, but I have a feeling this isn't the Spicer family mansion we know anymore.” her hand clutches Jack’s tightly, interlacing their fingers and squeezing gently. She presses her other hand over Manna’s body, gently stroking his feathers at the small squawk he lets out, and whistling a command to stay.

 

Jack stares down the endless hallway to the right, the erie light continues far down the hallway before it seems to shift into a thick, shimmering, fog. The one on the left is the same as the right, and he sighs heavily before gently tugging Juliet by the hand to follow him as he leads the group to the right, down the ever shifting hallway. As he walks he feels a large hand settle on his shoulder, and when he glances back to see who it is he almost trips over himself due to finding Chase Young so close. Luckily, Chase isn't looking at him, so he's able to keep his cool long enough not to fall on his face, but when he turns back around he's still hyper aware of the weight of Chase’s touch.

 

They walk for a long while in silence, following the gentle curve of the hallway further into the maze. Up ahead the strange shimmering light goes dark, the fog in the distance turning a murky gray, refusing to dissipate as they near it. The group comes to a stop in front of the cloud of fog, they shift anxiously in front of it, all waiting to see if it will do anything now that they've reached it. After several long, tense moments, Wuya scoffs and moves from her place slightly behind Juliet to approach the cloud. 

 

“It has to be some trick, the maze wants us to split up to find another way!” Wuya moves closer to the cloud, and in the moment she takes to glance down and lift the skirt of her dress, she misses the writhing form of something moving within the fog. Juliet’s hand tightens in Jack's before she lets go of it to dart forward towards Wuya.

 

“Wuya, don’t!” She calls, grabbing Wuya’s arm and stumbling back as whatever is inside the fog steps closer. Wuya flinches away from Juliet's touch, and as she breathes in harshly to yell something at Juliet over Manna’s loud, agitated caws, the three of them vanish. 

 

“Jewels!” Jack shouts when the three vanish, his body jerking forward without a thought. Without Chase's hand on his shoulder he would have launched himself straight into the cloud.

 

“Spicer, calm yourself-" Chase begins, but between one blink and the next they too have shifted locations and are falling to the ground in a heap, Jack under half of Chase’s upper body. Jack’s face presses harshly into the shifting carpet below them, and his lungs ache with the sudden loss of air. Chase quickly shifts off of him and into a crouch, looking around the new area warily as Jack gets up.

 

Jack gasps raggedly, quickly, forcing air back into his aching lungs as Chase rises from the floor. He scrambles up after him, still gasping for breath but calming as the moments pass in silence.

 

Jack takes the moment of peace to look around the new area they’re in, it’s similar to the previous hallway except for the change in the lights and mist around them. Now the ceiling glows gold and orange, flickering like flames instead of the swirling mass of the golden galaxy at the entrance. The fog around them glows and flickers in the same way, small orbs of denser light float a bit above their heads like will-o’-wisps. 

 

“Stay close, Spicer.” Chase says from in front of him, he’s eyeing the floating orbs above them with distrust, but waits until Jack moves to stand next to him before starting to walk. 

 

They walk in silence again for a long while, though the walls around them never change from their warped state, and the glowing orange light above them never stops its endless flickering. Soon the silence becomes too much, and Jack longs to say something, anything, to break the quiet of this place. His mind darts back to thoughts of Juliet's safety and suddenly he knows what he wants to say to Chase.

 

“Um, Chase?” he begins tentatively, not breaking stride as he follows slightly behind him.

 

“What, Spicer?” 

 

“I just uh, I wanted to thank you for not dropping Juliet the other day, it uh, would have been really easy for you not to catch her but you did, so um, thank you.” Jack stumbles through his words, unsure of how they will be received.

 

Chase glances back at him with cold eyes, “I did not do it for  _ you _ , Spicer.” he says simply, returning his attention to the maze.

 

“Ah, no, I know that! I just wanted to thank you, you know, heh.” Jack babbles in reply, itching to ask another question but unwilling to break the tentative peace they have.

 

His nervous energy must be ridiculously obvious, because after just a little while longer Chase speaks in a sharp tone, “Out with it, Spicer.”

 

“Right, sorry, I just, who  _ did _ you do it for? Was it a whim?” 

 

Chase stops abruptly in front of him, causing Jack to stumble to a stop so as not to run into him, Chase growls lowly before answering, “She reminded me of someone I knew long ago.” 

 

“Someone?” Jack asks quietly, not expecting an answer, he's honestly surprised he got that much of an answer.

 

Chase continues walking, slightly faster now, “My mentor, she and your ‘Jewels’ share a remarkably similar aura.” 

 

“Wait, a mentor? Auras?” Jack can't help but ask, a touch breathless as he struggles to keep pace with Chase.

 

“Their Aura are like flame, wild yet contained, destructive and protective. A special person indeed, though I cannot understand why someone like that would take an interest in you of all people.” Jack can't see his face, but he knows that tone of voice well enough to know Chase is appalled by the very idea. It hurts a bit, from all the things Chase had seen tonight and from the last showdown, you'd think he'd at least be a little impressed. 

 

“That is because you do not look, you still do not see, despite how often I have told you to.” Juliet’s voice calls from around the corner as they turn, and Jack picks up his pace in excitement and relief at hearing her voice, passing Chase quickly to round the corner. However, when they round the corner it is not Juliet that stands there.

 

Sure, it's got Juliet's face, but after the whole incident with the fae, Jack figures he's got the ‘recognizing the real Juliet’ bit down. No, the woman that stands in front of them isn't really her, she's glowing for one thing, and the light silken robe that's draped over her shoulders matches the orbs above them in both color and movement exactly. If he had to guess, he’d say that this ethereal version of Juliet is their guide out of this maze. 

 

She doesn't turn to look at them immediately, and when Jack and Chase approach they can see she's gazing out of a large window, at something their eyes can't quite make out. When she finally turns to them, her eyes glint like molten silver, and though they hold Juliet's usual warmth, there is something much more reserved about this Juliet than his. 

 

Chase steps forward seemingly without thought, and Jack wonders who it is he sees when he looks at this reflection of Juliet, “Mistress…” Chase breathes, and Jack understands what the maze has done, combined two important figures in their lives to guide them through the maze. Juliet’s face, and the personality of Chase's mentor, he can't decide if it's a kindness or a cruelty as he stares at the immortal’s back.

 

“Chase, still ignoring my lessons I see,” the Guide begins warmly, a small smile forming on Juliet's face, “time changes all things, having unlimited time should mean discovering unlimited things, do you not remember?” she croons, her reserved smile doesn't leave her face, but her eyes are deeply fond.

 

“I, of course, Mistress, my apologies.” Jack has never heard Chase sound anything less than haughty and self assured, but for this memory of a person he is soft spoken and contemplative, Jack feels as though he shouldn't be seeing this, it feels too private.

 

Jack glances away, shuffling in place a bit awkwardly, and waits to see what will happen next, the Guide turns back to the window before speaking again, “Jack, come here please.” She calls, and he finds himself walking towards her numbly, relaxed against all odds at the perceived presence of his friend.

 

“What do you see?” She asks, gazing out the window, Jack steps closer to the window and follows her gaze, at first he sees nothing but the hazy orange and gold flickering that makes up the ceiling, but between one breath and the next, the color fades and he is left with a view to the outside. 

 

He sees into a clearing of tall pine trees, in the center of the clearing sits a large bonfire, though the fire roars inside it's circle of rocks it remains carefully contained. It seems a basic vision at first, but as he looks longer he sees the glimmers of magic in the scene. Pictures dance within the flames; the forms of people dancing bloom from the crackling of the logs, birds swoop around the highest licks of flame, life and stories flicker in and out as the fire rages. A shimmer of blue catches his eye, and suddenly he can see the very wind, glimmering with the blue and silver shine of magic as it keeps the fire carefully contained, not allowing a single spark to touch the grass.

 

When he blinks again the window is once more just color and light, Juliet's voice repeats, “What do you see?”

 

The words come to him without time for his mind to process them, “You, I saw you. Your Aura, your very being.”

 

The guide smiles, it is no bigger than the smile she gave Chase, her eyes are no warmer than they were before, “And what makes us different? Myself and your Juliet, what makes each of us  _ us _ ?” she asks, voice soothing and showing nothing but the faint warmth from before.

 

Jack thinks for a moment, and stares back into the window, the vision of the bonfire comes back to him in his mind, though his eyes cannot see it. He thinks of the wildness of the flame kept carefully contained by the wind’s efforts, of the stories that danced in the flame kept carefully safe and distant from outside its heat. He thinks of Juliet, who shares her warmth freely, who loves without reservation, who grins and laughs and lives and suddenly he has his answer.

 

“Freedom, Juliet is who she is because she doesn't hold anything back, she is who she is no matter the consequences, she is free.” Jack answers, staring into the Guide’s eyes, her expression doesn't change, the mask never shifting. 

 

“How can we become the same? How can we both be  _ free _ ?” she asks, in her voice the wind sings, viciously keeping her flame at bay.

 

Jack slips his hand into the inner pocket of his coat, and feels the cool stone of the jade knuckles tucked inside, he pulls them out and slips them on. He ignores whatever it is that Chase is saying to him to turn back to the window, he rears back and punches the glass as hard as he can. It shatters under his hand, and a flash of white light fills his vision along with the bright sound of Juliet's laughter.

 

When the light fades they're in another room, this room is still distorted like the rest of the mansion, but the various antiques that line the room tell Jack that they're finally in the right place, and the voices that carry through the room confirm it.

 

“I swear to God, Raimundo, if you even look at this Wu again I will shoot you with this real-ass gun!” Juliet's voice growls from deeper inside the room, Jack and Chase turn as one towards the sound and begin making their way towards the voices.

 

“Aw come on, Juliet! We gotta get this Wu fixed and we can't just wait around forever till Spicer gets here.” Raimundo complains.

 

“I don't care! This is a Spicer family heirloom and I'm not giving it to you when all you'll do is put it in a vault!” Juliet snaps, Jack suppresses the urge to grin at the tone of her voice. 

 

He and Chase turn the final corner to meet the others, and are greeted by the sight of complete chaos. The walls are an endless swirl of eye searingly bright mixes of color and the white glow from the ceiling is nearly blinding, there is furniture crushed or destroyed all around the room, constantly flung up by the wild movements of the floor to fly through the air until another piece of furniture, thrown by one of the monks, stops it. In the center of it all stand four Xiaolin monks and a Heylin witch, surrounding a highly irritated Juliet who stands protectively in front of a gleaming silver mirror, Manna circling her head and swooping down on anyone who steps too close.

 

He pauses for a moment to take all of this in, and, as his life usually goes, this proves to be a mistake. The moving floor flings a sturdy wooden chair up into the air, causing Omi to throw another chair to ground it again. Unfortunately the one he throws happens to break into smaller pieces on impact, and one flies towards Jack's head quicker than either he or Chase can react. He's lucky he has Chase to fall into, otherwise he would have just crumbled to the floor on impact, but at least he has a nice place to rest while his now foggy mind tries to catch up with what just happened.

 

“Omi!” Juliet growls.

 

“My apologies, Jack Spicer! I did not intend to hit you with that chair leg!” Omi exclaims over Juliet's growl

 

“We don't have time for this! Juliet, just deactivate the mirror!” Jack thinks that's Kimiko yelling, but it's all too much for him to understand.

 

At some point while Jack fades in and out of awareness, the chaos of the room stops, between one slow blink the next the room is back to the neat and orderly way it always was before. Jack feels someone pick him up and carry him out of the room, but the movement is too much for him and he has to close his eyes. 

 

When he opens his eyes again they're out in the normal hallway of the Spicer mansion, and Juliet is leaning in close to his face, staring at him intently.

 

Juliet turns away from him to growl at someone next to her, “Dammit, Omi, you gave him a concussion!”

 

“My apologies, Miss Juliet, it was not my intention.” Omi mumbles meekly from somewhere near Juliet.

 

He fades out of awareness again as Juliet turns to tell Kimiko something, and when he becomes more alert it's to someone gently removing his jacket and shoes and easing him onto a soft bed, his eyes flutter closed again to a familiar voice telling him to, “Sleep well, Jackie.”

 

* * *

  
  
  


In his dreams he's standing in front of a bonfire, the flames pop and roar in his ears, the heat warms his cheeks and the front of his body. Shimmering wind ruffles his hair as it circles him, and as he looks up to follow its path with his eyes he realises the trees around him are lit up with flames. As he looks around the clearing of pine trees he realises that it's all on fire, the flame has spread from the bonfire to dance across the grass and swing freely in the trees. The wind has abandoned its task of keeping the flames in check to circle him instead, keeping any of the wild flames around him from catching him alight as well. It's wild, dangerous and more happy than he's ever felt, and as the dream fades to black he throws his head back and laughs.

 

* * *

  
  
  


When he wakes it's with the distant memory of having been woken several times over the course of the night and then to the cool touch of metal to his lips and the sweetest water he's ever tasted. He feels fine, rested, and when he rolls onto his side he finds Juliet sitting against the headboard next to him, dressed in loose pajamas now and tapping away on her phone.

 

“Hey.” He croaks, Juliet looks up from her phone with a smile, leaning away from him to grab a glass of water off the bedside table and waiting for him to sit up before handing it to him.

 

“Hey, feeling okay?”

 

Jack nods as he swallows his gulp of water, “Yeah, what happened while I was asleep?” 

 

“Well, it turns out it was Chase and Wuya’s magical signatures that reset the wards, and that that's most likely the reason the wards around the mirror popped and we had an issue. You had a concussion so I sent Manna to get the Goblet and fixed that for you, and we have four Xiaolin monks in the next room, playing Mario kart if you want to come help me kick their asses.” Juliet lists. 

 

Jack drains the rest of his water before putting it down and running a hand through his hair, the memory of flames dance across his eyelids as he stretches his arms until his spine pops, “Yeah alright, why the hell not?”

 

He can deal with all the serious stuff tomorrow, for now he has some monks to shame.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Guns, and the barest hint of a racial slur
> 
>  
> 
> Kimiko's Dress: [Here](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/38/4d/c8/384dc80e264a5a4a1961e35d6fb6fe66.jpg)  
> Rai/ Clay/ Omi's Suit base: [Here](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/d2/85/48/d285485436b28839c7007f3498bd0190.jpg)
> 
> Wuya's Dress: [Here](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/f0/24/9a/f0249aad0a7eff1b3ccc77a1332de388.jpg)  
> Chase's Suit: [Here](http://image.dhgate.com/0x0/f2/albu/g1/M00/DF/73/rBVaGFTNk7-AHRKTAADFMtvkhTw307.jpg)
> 
>  
> 
> Thank you for reading, I won't make any promises for when the next chapter will be out, but I'll try to make it pretty soon!


	8. Meeting Mei

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look who got a chapter out without making you all wait months!! It's a bit shorter than usual, but at least it's out. 
> 
> Please do not expect this, I cannot promise I will always be consistent!!
> 
> Thanks to my lovely Beta for her help with this chapter! You can find her [Here](https://comfortably-chaotic-mind.tumblr.com/) and [Here](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadow_hunter93/pseuds/Shadow_hunter93)

Jack wakes up the next day in a nest of blankets, he can hear quiet talking from outside his cocoon, and struggles to free himself in a half asleep daze. He blinks blearily out into the low light of the room around him, he’s still in front of the tv in the sitting room, he must have fallen asleep sometime after thoroughly destroying every monk except Kimiko in Mario Kart. Light shines through the slightly open door across the room, catching his eye as he struggles to free his body from its blanket trap. Once free he shuffles towards the light, dragging several blankets along with him like a cape. He can make out the familiar loud voices of the monks and Juliet’s much quieter responses, with a tired sigh he pushes the door open, squinting against the light and grumbling as he follows the smell of coffee and food.

 

“Morning, sleeping beauty, we thought you’d never wake up.” Juliet’s voice teases, Jack huffs an annoyed breath and shuffles towards her voice, he ignores the giggles from the monks as a mug is pressed into his hand, draining the coffee inside before he even attempts to reply.

 

He passes the mug back to whoever handed it to him, rubbing at his eyes harshly and blinking against the light of the room, “In my defense, I did have a concussion just yesterday.” He says, finally looking around the room. Juliet sits at the large oak table next to him in the common room of their suite at his grandmother's. Manna, in owl form, owl form perched on the back of her chair. She has an amused look on her face as she fills his mug up again with fresh coffee. The table is filled with trays of food covered by silver lids, and various drinks,. Kimiko sits next to Juliet, looking tired but more alive than he’s sure he looks as she shifts her mostly eaten food around her plate idly. The other monks sit across from them with Dojo in front of them on the table, each shoveling food into their mouths at a near frantic pace. Jack rolls his eyes and sits on Juliet’s other side, lifting the lids off of each tray of food to check what’s inside, “So, what are you losers still doing here?” 

 

Omi squawks with outrage at the minor insult, but it’s Kimiko that answers, “Juliet offered us breakfast, and we can’t exactly say no to free food,” Kimiko watches her fellow monks and Dojo shovel food into their faces, sharing a long suffering look with Juliet before continuing, “We’ll be out of your hair pretty soon, I’m sure Master Fung is waiting for us back at the temple.” She explains, taking a long drink from her own coffee before going back to picking at her food.

 

Jack piles his plate with food as Kimiko talks, rolling his eyes as Juliet tips a small dish filled with fruit onto an empty place on his plate. His lips twitch when she does the same to Kimiko a moment later, “Jewels, stop mother henning.” He mumbles around a bite of food.

 

“Don’t talk with your mouth full.” Juliet replies before her mind can register what he said. A moment later she glares at his grinning face, Kimiko snorts from her other side and Juliet turns her glare towards towards the female monk after stealing a piece of bacon off of Jack’s plate in retaliation.

 

Breakfast continues that way in surprisingly comfortable quiet, only Juliet and Kimiko’s quiet chatter and the sounds of eating fill the room. Jack quietly marvels at the shift his relationship with the monks has taken. They're not really friends, but there’s far less animosity than there was just a few weeks ago. Soon, all the food has been eaten, and the monks all gather in the back garden to leave in their now rumpled finery. Jack watches from the balcony with Juliet as Kimiko waves up at them before climbing onto Dojo, soon they’re alone again, Manna circling their heads slowly.

 

Juliet stretches her arms above her head until her spine pops, and sighs before turning to go back into their rooms, Manna following along behind her. Jack follows them after stretching himself, he drags a hand through his messy hair as he watches Juliet putter around the common room, tidying it and putting the empty trays back on the cart by the door, “So, what happened after I got all loopy last night?” he asks after she pushes the cart into the hallway.

 

Juliet herds him back into the sitting room, getting him seated on the couch and pushing the blanket nest out of the way before speaking, “Well, I sent Manna to go get the Goblet, then I had the monks, Chase, and Wuya take you up here to rest while I did damage control at the Gala and filled grandmother in on what happened― I have several business cards you’ll need to look through by the way― by the time I got back, Chase had already left, and Wuya was sitting with you to make sure you didn’t slip into a coma or anything,” Jack’s eyebrows fly up in surprise. Wuya? Helping him without any begging or bargaining? The world must be ending, “She left pretty soon after I got back, and I used the Goblet to get rid of your concussion. You woke up an hour or so after that, and you remember the rest.” she finishes, pushing the glass coffee table that had been pressed against the far wall back into place in front of the couch before leaving him where he is as she exits the room, she returns with a rectangular wooden box(,) the size of her forearm, that she sets on the coffee table in front of them before flopping down onto the carpet on the other side of the coffee table from him.

 

“How bad is it?” He asks, eyeing the box warily as Juliet pulls it closer to herself.

 

“After your little stunt last night?” Juliet asks as she eases the lid off the box, “Bad. We have a lot of work to do.” she says as she lifts the lid completely off. A few business cards burst out from the overflowing box. When Juliet has emptied it, the cards cover the entire table, making Jack groan, rubbing at his eyes tiredly. The backs of his hands come away streaked with eyeliner, and he winces at the thought of how he must look. No wonder the monks were laughing. 

 

“Go take a shower, I’ll start sorting.” Juliet says, looking much more put together even in baggy pajamas and with her braids wrapped up in silk scarves.

 

“You’re my favorite.”

 

“Obviously.”

 

* * *

 

By the time he gets out of the shower, Juliet has organized around half of the pile based on importance. Taped down makeup pencils separate the cards into rectangular sections going from left to right, within each section the cards lie flat on the table top, edges meeting those of the surrounding cards. Where a section is full she adds a new layer to the section, keeping all cards neatly in their proper groups. The unsorted cards sit in a semi-neat pile next to her, and some flutter around when she jumps up, “My turn. You know my methods, so keep sorting and I’ll be back in a bit.” She says quickly before moving past him and into the bathroom. 

 

Jack settles into her place on the floor, leaning against the back of the couch and allowing his mind to go quiet while his hands sort out a chunk of cards to look through. Cards that he doesn’t recognise the names to go into the section furthest to the left to be checked over at a later time, the ones he recognises find their place based on what he can remember of their representatives. Very few go into the pile furthest to the right. He passes the time with the familiar, if deeply loathed, rhythm of sorting, allowing his mind to wander as his eyes look over the endless supply of nearly identical cards. Distantly his mind registers the sound of the shower being turned off as he continues his task, but his body freezes completely as his mind registers the name on the card in his hand: Foley.

 

“Jewels!” he yells, panic rising in his voice.

 

“What?!” she calls from the bedroom, when she doesn’t get a reply she pokes her head around the door, “What?” she repeats, unwrapping her braids from where they’re bundled on top of her head to keep them away from the water. 

 

“What happened with Foley?!” Jack asks urgently, panic making his hands shake uncontrollably.

 

Juliet pauses, thinking for a moment, “Oh, don’t worry, I talked to him last night. I told him that the matter you had to attend to suddenly became dire and that you had to leave to personally see to it.” Jack nods, placing a hand over his rapidly beating heart and taking deep breaths to try and calm down. Juliet ducks back into the bedroom, exiting a few moments later fully dressed with her braids fixed and pulled back into a ponytail. She walks over to his side, placing a gentle hand on his back, rubbing it in small circles until he’s calmed, “Better?” she asks.

 

Jack nods, “Yeah, sorry for freaking out.” he says, cheeks flushing. He knows Juliet has seen worse from him, but his panic is still not his favorite thing for other people to see.

 

“No, I get it, Foley is big. You want this to go as well as it can.” Juliet soothes, moving around the table to sit across from him, “Pass me some of those cards.” Jack nods, quickly placing the Foley card in the far right section before passing half the stack of unsorted cards over to her. They work together in companionable silence, moving around each other with ease, the cards quickly being placed in their proper sections and their respective piles of unsorted cards shrinking in no time. They're nearly finished when there’s a knock on the doorframe of the sitting room. 

 

Adelia stands in the doorway, smiling at them fondly, “I did knock, but I suppose you two were too busy sorting to hear me.” she teases, making her way over to the couch and sitting down primly, her knees press lightly into Jack’s side.

 

“Sorry, grandmother, we’re nearly done.” Jack answers, still idly sorting through cards as he shifts out of her way.

 

“Oh, don’t mind me, you two finish your work. I can wait a few minutes.” Adelia says, waving a hand for them to continue.

 

Jack nods before turning his full attention back to the sorting. Between the two of them, the work is done quickly and they turn their attention back to Adelia, “What did you need, grandmother?” Juliet asks, pulling the tie out of her braids to let her hair back down.

 

“I was just checking up on you two. Jack, how are you feeling? Juliet told me you were hurt during last night’s adventure with your Shen Gong Wu.” Adelia asks, concern in her voice.

 

“Oh, I’m all better now, it was just a minor thing.” he assures his grandmother, ignoring the look Juliet shoots him for outright lying, “How’d everything go for you after we left? Jewels told me there weren't any problems but she was also pretty busy handling this.” he gestures to the table covered in business cards.

 

“The Gala went wonderfully as usual, we might have to start holding them in the gardens from now on, weather permitting of course.” she pauses to think, “Oh! After you two deactivated that Mirror that ended up being one of your Shen Gong Wu, I went ahead and restarted the wards around it and the rest of the heirlooms, just to be safe.” she explains.

 

Juliet nods, “Wouldn’t want another incident, maybe you should also look into a fix for the main ward as well, it would be pretty disastrous if any unfamiliar magical aura can knock them out.”

 

Adelia smiles, “I was thinking that myself, dear, but you two shouldn’t be worrying about this, I’m sure you have far more important things to focus on than the running of this mansion.”

 

Jack groans, rubbing roughly at his eyes, “Right now, I’m mostly concerned about how we’re going to get through this many people.” he says, gesturing to the cards. 

 

“You don’t have to contact all of them, dearest. In fact, I’m sure many of those won’t be worth your time in the least.” Adelia says, gesturing over to the sections on the left where most of the cards ended up, “Just pick the most important or interesting to you. The Gala is supposed to be a helpful way to gain business partners, not a chore.”

 

On the other side of the table, Juliet rummages through a bag on the floor and comes back with several ribbons in different colors, she begins stacking each section into neat piles before tying them up with neat little bows, “Actually Jack, before you start contacting these people, you should really go get all of your current stuff patented.” she suggests, tying a deep purple ribbon around the smallest bunch of cards, Jack can see the name Foley at the top from where he’s sitting.

 

“That’s a wonderful idea, Juliet! You can never be too careful, especially when meeting with so many robotics experts.” Adelia agrees, smiling brightly.

 

Jack nods in agreement as his grandmother speaks, already considering the steps he’ll have to take to complete all of the patents before he can contact the Foley company. Juliet interrupts his thought process, “You can do all of that when we get home, I had an idea for something to do while we’re here.” Jack hesitates, anxious to get to work, but the almost nervous look on Juliet’s face stops him from voicing any complaints.

 

“Sure, Jewels, what did you have in mind?” he asks, behind him his grandmother stands, slipping out from behind him and moving to lean against the back of the couch.

 

“I wanted you to meet someone,” Juliet answers hesitantly, “she lives in Paris, so I thought we could go see her since we’re this close.”

 

Jack wonders why she’s so nervous, he hopes she doesn’t think he’d be mad that she has more friends than just him. He'd been fine with meeting Alec and everyone from Oasis, right? “Yeah of course. As long as you don’t mind us staying another night, grandmother?” he asks, turning slightly to look at her.

 

“Of course not, dear, you two are welcome to stay as long as you like,” she smiles at straightens up, “I’ll go inform the staff, you two have fun!” she says, gliding out of the room.

 

Jack turns his attention back to Juliet, “So what’s the plan?” he asks, relaxing a bit when she smiles.

 

“Let me text her and I’ll let you know.”

 

* * *

 

Within the hour they’re sitting outside of a little café in Paris. Jack sips his coffee quietly while Juliet looks around for her friend, he silently hopes no mimes show up this time. Juliet is still strangely nervous, fidgeting in her chair every few seconds and idly ripping a paper napkin into strips to keep her hands busy. Jack stares at the side of her face, feeling his own nerves fraying as the minutes pass. Finally he can’t stand the silence anymore, “Why are you so nervous?” he asks, taking another sip from his cup.

 

Juliet jumps at the sound of his voice, and turns to smile at him guiltily, “That obvious, huh?” she asks, face flushing with embarrassment.

 

“Jewels, I’m pretty sure even the satellites circling Earth could tell.” he says, and gives her a reassuring half smile, “It’s going to be fine, whoever this is, she’s obviously important to you, and even if I don’t like her I can play nice for a few hours.” he tries to reassure her, but if anything she looks more worried now, teeth biting into her lower lip and brows furrowing.

 

“Juliet!” A woman’s voice calls from across the road, her American accent obvious after spending the day hearing accented English or rapidfire French. Juliet’s head whips towards the sound, and over the crowd of people Jack can spot a small, albino woman bouncing on her toes and waving.

 

“Oh my god, you’re collecting us.” Jack deadpans, Juliet flips him off and tosses the strips of her napkin at his face playfully. He laughs, and is still picking the strips of paper off his clothes and out of his hair when the woman walks up.

 

She’s younger than them by a few years, and clearly chinese with stark white skin and hair that matches Jack’s if he left it undyed. Her eyes are a pale pink in contrast with his blood red, and she grins brightly when they make eye contact, practically skipping the rest of the way over to them. She comes to a stop next to Juliet with a swish of her pastel pink skirt, smile bright and eyes excited as she looks across the table at him. Jack can’t help the small thought of how different they clearly are, or the small pang it causes in his chest, but he smiles hesitantly at her anyway.

 

Juliet speaks first, “Jack, this is my friend, Mei. Mei, this is Jack, I’ve told you about him before.” she says, easily introducing them while Mei settles into the chair next to her.

 

Mei beams, “Hi!” She chirps before wincing, “Er, sorry, I got a little excited, Juliet’s been talking about you for years!” she continues, cheeks flushing bright pink. 

 

“Good to meet you, Mei. I wish I could say the same,” Jack finds himself charmed despite his earlier concerns, and gives Juliet the side eye as he continues, “Jewels can be weirdly secretive when it comes to normal things like having friends.” he teases, smirking when Juliet sticks her tounge out at him.

 

Mei snickers behind her hand, blinking innocently up at Juliet when she turns her eyes to her, “Well, she’s certainly chatty enough when it comes to you,” she says, eyes glinting with familiar mischief, “it’s always something: ‘Jack did this today’ or ‘Jack’s making a new robot’.” she says, lowering the pitch of her voice to mimic Juliet’s. 

 

Juliet’s cheeks go red as Jack laughs, she stands when he opens his mouth to speak, “Wow, okay, it’s been two seconds and I already regret this! Mei, it’s time to go home!” Juliet says loudly, ushering Mei up out of her seat as she giggles.

 

“Mama!” She whines, “Come on let me stay!”  she hooks her legs around the legs off the chair to try and stop Juliet from pulling her out of it, “I’ve been waiting  _ forever _ to meet him!” she complains, holding onto the edge of the table. 

 

Jack snorts as Juliet almost immediately gives up, letting her go and flinging her arms up in defeat, “Ugh, fine! But I don’t have to sit here and listen to you two making fun of me, I’ll be over there.” she complains, gesturing down the street to a busy park, “Text me when you’re done being jerks.” she pouts, gathering her purse and heading that way.

 

Mei waves at her back excitedly before looking over her shoulder at him with a smirk, “She can dish out the teasing all day long, but can’t take even a second of it without running away.” she laughs.

 

Jack snorts, “Oh for sure, it conflicts too much with her regal persona.” They both laugh, and watch Juliet’s back until she disappears into the crowd of park-goers, “Mama?” he asks, smirk playing on his lips.

 

Mei’s cheeks flush bright red, “It started as a joke, but it just kind of stuck? She’s very mothering.” she explains, looking anywhere but at him.

 

Jack chuckles, “Fair enough,” Mei relaxes as the subject drops, though her cheeks stay bright red, “Anyway, how did you meet Jewels?” 

 

“We ran into each other at my college, Juliet was cutting through the campus to meet, um, Jasmine, and we just collided.” Mei picks up some of the scattered strips of napkin and fidgets with them while she speaks, “In a way, I’m lucky Jasmine canceled on her that day, otherwise we would have just passed each other by with nothing to show for it but a couple of bruises.” she huffs a laugh, staring down at her hands almost sadly.

 

“What was she like? Jasmine, I mean, I never got to meet her.” He asks, feeling bad for prying but knowing that asking Mei these questions would be a lot less painful than asking Juliet. He takes a sip from his cup.

 

Mei considers his question for a moment while he drinks, a sour look on her face, “Honestly? She was kind of a bitch.” Jack sputters into his coffee, coughing for a few seconds before calming, Mei smiles apologetically, “Sorry, I never really got Juliet’s interest in her. They were polar opposites, and not even in the good way! Jasmine always seemed so… cold, whenever I spoke to her, it was like she couldn’t care less about me so long as she wasn’t getting anything out of our interaction.” She says, dropping the the napkin pieces.

 

“Wow, Juliet used to talk about her like she hung the moon, she never said anything like that,” Jack frowns into his cup, “why didn’t she tell me?”

 

Mei sees the drop in his mood and shakes her head rapidly, “No, no, no, it wasn’t anything horrible. Unhealthy? For sure, but I don’t honestly think Juliet minded how their relationship worked. I got the sense that it wasn’t really about  _ Love _ , just the companionship part of a relationship.” She frantically explains, trying to cheer him up.

 

The frown stays on his face, the way she emphasized the word love was weird, like the word held weight, but he had better things to worry about, “Jewels told me she probably didn’t really love her, but if they weren't in love, why did Juliet stay with her for so long?” Jack asks, setting his empty cup down on the table.

 

Mei shrugs, “I really don’t know, but if you spend that much time with someone, you’re bound to get attached in some way, right? So it probably didn’t even occur to her that she  _ could  _ just leave until it was already over.”

 

Jack nods, “That would sort of explain how upset she was when she called me, suddenly everything was changing.” he muses, gazing past Mei’s shoulder towards the direction of the park.

 

“Exactly!”

 

“I’m just worried about her, you know? She seems fine, but she’s really good at hiding stuff like that.” he sighs, returning his focus to Mei.

 

Mei nods, smiling gently, “It’s fine to worry about her, but don’t overthink it too much, you know? Just having you around is probably helping her far more than you realise.”

 

Jack blinks, surprised, “What do you mean?” he asks after a moment.

 

Mei rolls her eyes, “I wasn’t kidding when I said she talks about you all the time. She worries about you constantly, and I guarantee that having you so close all the time has lessened her daily worryings significantly.” 

 

Jack snorts to try and cover the embarrassed flush of his cheeks, “Meanwhile, mine have shot up with all the stupid stunts she pulls constantly.” he knows his voice is fond, and he can’t even make himself feel embarrassed about it.

 

Mei laughs, “You’ll have to tell me those stories someday, I’m sure they’re wild.” 

 

Jack grins, jumping at the chance to change the subject to something more lighthearted, “Oh, you wouldn’t believe me if I told you, one time―”

 

A distant rumble sounds from behind Mei, and they both freeze as flocks of birds all take flight at once at the noise. They stare at each other in silence as the cries of the birds fade, barely breathing as they listen for the sound again over the worried murmurings of the people around them. Another rumble echos from the same direction, and they’re both on their feet, Jack searches for his Wu monitor, cursing himself for muting it as he pulls the watch from his pocket. It flashes red as it silently alerts a Wu reveal, and Jack motions for Mei to follow as he takes the lead and they run down the street towards the beacon. 

 

“What’s going on?” Mei asks, pressed close behind him as they weave through the crowds of people.

 

“It’s a Wu activation, I don’t have time to explain right now, but it’s close and Juliet might have already found it.” He answers, turning sharply into an alley right before they reach the park Juliet disappeared into. Mei scrambles to keep up with him, gripping onto a strap of his jacket so she doesn’t fall behind, but says nothing as they continue following the beacon. The ground rumbles once more, vibrations making them both stumble to a stop, Jack pulls them both forward as soon as he gets his bearings, and by the time the vibrations stop, they’re standing in front of an empty factory building.

 

The area is eerily silent now, and Jack resists the urge to curse as he searches for an entrance into the building. Mei finds a partially open door and waves him over to it. It's pitch black inside, but he can hear voices, he turns on the flashlight in his phone and walks into the dark with only minor hesitation. Mei grabs his hand as she follows, and he finds himself squeezing it comfortingly without conscious thought. They walk through the dark for a long while, following the voices as they become louder and louder, the sounds of Wu being used echo through the room, along with cheering and shouts of frustration. A woman’s shout echoes through the room just as a bright flash of light fills the darkness, Jack’s body stays tense as his vision goes spotty, and he blindly turns a corner before reaching the doorway into a large room.

 

Light streams into the room from the large windows lining the top of the wall across from them, his vision clearing as he takes in the occupants of the room. The monks are celebrating on the far end of the room, totally oblivious to their entrance, and Jack ignores them to search for Juliet. Mei spots her first, tugging on his sleeve to get his attention, and they rush over to where she’s laying on the hard concrete, partially under Wuya, whose forearm is gripped by both of Juliet’s hands with her head pressed into Juliet’s shoulder. They untangle as Jack and Mei are making their way over, Wuya ripping her arm out of Juliet’s hold, she’s on her feet when they reach Juliet, glaring a the young woman as Jack helps her to her feet.

 

“I don’t understand you!” Wuya growls, her whole body tense and anger radiating from every pore, “Why do you keep helping me?! What do you want?!” She continues, clenching her hands into fists.

 

Juliet pulls away from Jack’s hold, straightening up and taking a step forward before speaking, her shoulders are tense, and anger is audible in her voice when she speaks, “Well fuck, I dont know, Wuya! Maybe it’s because this ‘everybody for themselves’ attitude all of you Heylin live by is stupid! Maybe it’s because I’m tired of fighting the people that are supposed to be on our side! Hell, maybe it’s because I just don’t  _ want _ to watch you get mangled!” Juliet yells, taking a step forward with every reason she gives. Her voice gains the monks’ attention, and they shift nervously as they watch her approach Wuya. “Have you ever even considered that? Having actual allies that you won’t stab in the back at a moments notice?” She advances further, forcing Wuya to take a step back, “It probably would have prevented you from getting wiped out by a bunch of thirteen year olds all those years ago! But no! Of course not! You just have to be suspicious all the goddamn time!” she finishes, breathing heavily. 

 

Wuya stares, face blank in shock for a moment before the anger returns, “Why rely on someone when they’ll just stab you in the back the second you outlive your use to them?” she counters, “Everyone always wants  _ something _ !” she shouts, throwing her hands out in frustration.

 

“I don’t.” Juliet says quietly, the sounds of their heavy breathing fill the room, “I don’t want a goddamned thing from you Wuya. All I want is for Jack and I to survive this stupid magical trinket hunt until the next one comes around. And I can do that with or without you, so where’s your excuse now?” Juliet asks, the silence stretches between them, Wuya watching Juliet suspiciously, Juliet huffs a sharp laugh, turning her back on Wuya to return to Jack and Mei, “Let me know when you figure that out.” she calls back, her expression is calm, but Jack can see the tension in her shoulders, the tremor in her hands, “Let’s get out of here.” she says to Jack, he nods and slips an arm around her shoulders, they leave without another word. Quickly exiting the factory and making their way down the alley that led them there.

 

“I think we should get home,” Jack says to Mei, “sorry to cut things so shortー” 

 

Mei cuts him off with a shake of her head, “Don’t worry about it, we can hang out again later, just get her home.” She says at they reach the street, Jack flashes her a grateful smile as he hails a cab, easing a shaking Juliet into it before turning and speaking to Mei.

 

“Thanks, I’ll have Juliet text you when she feels better, alright?” he offers, Juliet gives the man behind the wheel the address to the mansion in quiet french, and Jack glances back at her quickly before sliding into the seat next to her. 

 

Mei nods, “It was good to meet you, Jack, despite the circumstances.”

 

Jack smiles, “You too, Mei.” he answers, she closes the door and steps back to wave as they drive away.

 

They make it back to the mansion after an uncomfortably tense car ride, and Jack tips the driver generously before leading Juliet into the house. The staff know better than to ask any questions, and they make it back up to their rooms without incident. Juliet goes straight to the bedroom, flopping face first into the neatly made sheets, her feet dangling off the edge.

 

“You want to talk about it?” he asks hesitantly, walking over to sit on the edge of the bed.

 

Juliet groans into the blankets, wiggling around  until she’s facing him and clutching a pillow to her chest, “I meant what I said, I think it would be good to have actual allies in Heylin, the monks have a huge advantage on all of you by being four people that work together constantly.” she says, voice muffled from where her cheek is pressed to to bed.

 

“But?” 

 

“But, whenever I think about how her way of thinking has affected you, and how easy it would have been for her to convince you that having loyalty to anybody was a mistake, I just get so frustrated!” she exclaims, flopping onto her back and flinging her arms out dramatically. 

 

Her pillow thumps against his side, and he eases it from her grip before settling down to lie next to her, “Give me a little credit, there would have never been anything Wuya could say about you to make me abandon you, whether she had known about you or not.” he says, throwing the pillow back up to the top of the bed.

 

Juliet shakes her head rapidly, “No, I know that. I just, her way of thinking is super unhealthy, and it obviously comes from somewhere, but I don’t want it to pass on to you, I don’t want to be the only exception.” she explains, turning her head to look at him.

 

“That’s an understandable fear, and I’ll admit that when I was younger I did buy into a lot of her ‘trust no one’ and ‘zero loyalty’ stuff, but I do have some critical thinking skills, and I figured out that was a bunch of crap a while ago. At this point, I don’t team up with other Heylin because it’s kind of a pain, not because I’ve held onto Wuya’s ideals.” He reassures her, he can see her relax as he speaks, and he smiles gently at her, she returns it.

 

“So, you’re not just playing nice with Wuya cause you think she’s hot right?” Jack says a moment later, a smirk on his face.

 

Juliet groans, covering her face to hide her grin, “Jaaaaaaaaaaaaaack.”

 

“No, I’m serious! My best friend shacking up with a Heylin witch would really be the best way traumatise me forー” 

 

A pillow smacks him in the face. He hears Juliet’s laugh from beside him as she sits up to smack him with another pillow, and he shrieks in response, grabbing the pillow on his face to defend himself. Jack allows himself to relax as they dissolve into an all out pillow war, tomorrow they’ll go back home, but for now, he’s glad to have Juliet smiling again.

 

* * *

 

In his dreams he stands on a balcony overlooking a sparring area, his gaze locked on two men as they match each other step for step. His golden robes trail the floor, but he pays them no mind, too focused on the men as they circle each other and laugh, a happy, familiar sound. The wind whistles past from behind him, carrying the sound of birdsong, more subdued now, and the quiet babbling coos of young children. Below, one of the men finally gets the upper hand on the other, knocking him to the ground. The laughter still rings, and he smiles, content. The man who lost stands, wiping sweat off his brow as he chats with the other, suddenly, he looks up. He cannot see the man’s face, not fully, but he knows deep down in his bones that this man, with his long dark hair and strong features, is beautiful, and his smile shifts into a grin.

 

The wind whistles past again, this time carrying a word.

 

_ Bride _

 

He wakes, blinking tears from his eyes.

 

Between one breath and the next, the dream slips away, the bright rays of sunlight in his eyes banishes any wonderings about the moisture clinging to his cheeks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Please let me know if you see any mistakes or issues, or if you just enjoyed the chapter!
> 
> Also! This fic has officially been all planned out, there should be 25 chapters total, give or take some depending on chapter length and the possibility for new ideas as we go along.


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